


Right Kind Of Wrong

by NimTheWitch



Category: Captain Hook - Fandom, Peter Pan (2003)
Genre: F/M, Hook Kink, Relatively Quick Burn, Rough Sex, Smut, magic sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-19
Updated: 2018-01-19
Packaged: 2019-03-06 15:56:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 59,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13414641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NimTheWitch/pseuds/NimTheWitch
Summary: Sarah Darling isn't what you would call "good". A troubled history and violent temper have landed her into trouble more than once. But it's her friend's carelessness that just might prove to be her salvation. Hook/OFC





	1. Bad News and Worse News

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I originally published this to my Fanfiction.net account, I think I posted the first chapter in 2011. I've been meaning to go through and fix all the tiny mistakes, the syntax errors and such, but doing on on Fanfic.net is a nightmare and a half so I decided to post it here instead. I love the community here and the interface is amazing so it seemed like the right way to go. Please pardon the quality compared to my Markiplier fic, I was much younger when I wrote this lol.

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to commit to the earth, the remains of our dear friend Peter. He was a great man, full of love and forgiveness. Father to Sarah and Thomas Darling, he was known for his charity to the weak and his seemingly endless tolerance of those who would put him down. He will be sorely missed. Rest in peace old friend,” the speaker folded his hands across his stole clad chest, a bible resting between them, his head bowed to hide the tears the slid slowly down his weathered face. He was older, wrinkled around the eyes and lips from years of laughter and good times with his friend Peter for whom he’d just read a eulogy he’d written himself.  
Peter Darling had been the last of the “writer’s line” of Darlings, started by his grandmother Wendy, at least as far as he knew. He had been the last to write about the wondrous boy whose name he shared. The story of Peter Pan had been a part of his family’s history for four generations, started by his great grandmother as a story to soothe her children and continued by them in the form of their tales of adventure, some personal, some passed down, some real, some not.

Nigel sighed as he signed the guest book at the end of the funeral. He thought of Peter’s two children. Thomas was away at school and Sarah was out of town due to her job. They’d both phoned him and let him know they’d received the news and were “alright”, but he couldn’t help but think that there was too much left undone for both the children. They had never been very close to their father, he was always gone on business or trying desperately to fix his marriage and seemed to have little time for them, but that didn’t mean he loved them any less. Nigel had always been a close family friend, and tried to make them understand that their father was just trying to make their lives better, but they seemed to see it as being abandoned and forgotten.

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Once they were old enough, they left the house, they’d been saving secretly for years. They got a small flat together on the other side of the town, working whatever odd jobs they could and trying not to fall “into the wrong crowd” as their parents put it. Thomas seemed to do a good job. He finished school, got into a good college and seemed to be doing alright, but Sarah wasn’t so lucky. She had always been attracted to the wrong type of guy, the bad boy with a heart of gold sort, the thug who just needed to be cleaned up, the ones who could be “tamed”, if they just met the right woman. But Sarah always seemed to find the ones that only wanted someone to push around. It was a hard life for her, but it sharpened her wit and made her more than capable of handling herself. 

She was about 21 when she found the crown jewel of thugs, and of course she fell for him. He got her hooked on some nasty stuff, drugs and worse were all she knew for a couple years, but her father finally found her and dragged her out of that life. He put her in rehab and demanded that she make something of herself. He challenged her to become better, to prove him wrong in thinking that he should’ve left her to die where he found her, and she responded with flying colors. 

She enrolled in college the next semester, going for a degree in English, her focus was on creative writing. Her first couple years were great, she was dedicated and seemed to be turning around, but the man she’d been with when her father found her had apparently tracked her down and soon enough, she was being dragged back into the darkness she had fought to escape.  
It was the birth of her niece, Wendy that made her fight back. She moved to a different part of town, closer to her family and the campus and started spending every free minute with her niece. The little baby seemed to make everything brighter and she was able to finally move past her “issues”. She still didn’t know what they were; she just knew that the shrink said she needed to get past them if she wanted to make something of herself.  
She wasn’t sure if she ever got past anything, but she finished school and took a job as a teacher. It took her a couple years before any of her stories got published, but once they did, they took off. She quit her teaching job, thankful to be away from all the little brats for good and all, and dedicated her life to her writing.

She soon found out that the world of writers is a scary place full of all sorts of people. Some of them were downright insane, but others were just crazy enough to be fascinating to her. One such person, Lucas, was a scientist/science fiction writer. He was a “documentarian” according to his own ideas, but everyone else just saw him as a shallow glory hound that made up happy endings to his wild theories that never seemed to work.  
Sarah became instantly attached, needing a solid influence in the world of flighty authors. He was a rock she could cling to in the rather wild tide of imagination that she was put under almost constantly. They became friends rather quickly and before long, she was moving into the spare room above his garage/workshop. It was large enough to be its own apartment and soon there were walls separating the massive room into parts and a small kitchenette had been put in and a small bathroom was added on, giving her the private retreat she needed. It was amazing to her how far this man was willing to go to make her comfortable.  
She asked about it one day and he said that it was because he saw something of his sister in her and since she was past saving, she’d passed away a few years before they’d met, he would try his damnedest to make sure she didn’t go the same way. He’d smiled when he said it, but it was obvious how serious he was.

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Her 29th birthday was where her life really turned around. She’d just written a self help book, a break from her normal fantasy books, targeting young women like herself, and it was fairly flying off the shelves, and she was pursuing another degree in history, her focus was on the 18th century, also known as the “Pirate Era” by her group. 

She’d always been interested in pirates, ever since she heard the old stories her father told her. Thomas had always cheered for Pan, clapping wildly when he defeated Hook, but it had always made Sarah sad. She had always liked Hook. She would often wish that he would take her away on his ship and teach her to be a pirate and free her from the monotony of her life.  
She still felt that way sometimes, especially when her editor would call and yell at her for being late with a book or chapter. She hated all the politics and technicals involved in getting books published, she wished it would be as easy as it seemed in the movies or shows, but she knew that it was something she had to deal with. Sometimes, when she was completely alone, she would open her window and climb up onto the edge of her balcony and pretend like she was flying away, letting the wind blow her hair around. It was a release for her, letting all her troubles fall off her and down the 10 story distance to the ground below, but she didn’t get to do it as often as she would like. More often than not it was just her cigarette smoke blowing over the railing as she hid from everyone in her life for the few minutes she could. 

She knew it was childish, hiding on a porch and pouting cause her editor was being “mean” but she was mature for 90 percent of her day, so she saw the other 10 percent as hers to be childish with if she so chose. The thought made her laugh sometimes, the image of her editor’s face as that of a wrinkly old teacher and she the young student, evading punishment by hiding under the stairs.  
Then the bottom of her world dropped out. She was in Paris for a book signing event when she got the call. Her father had died. It was some stupid kid in a car or something, a car wreck was all she heard, and she couldn’t even be there for the funeral. Her heart could’ve shattered out of her chest from the force or her sadness and anger. She tore her hotel suite apart that night, not caring how much she had to pay in damages. Little did she know that it wouldn’t matter what she did to the room, she wouldn’t be around when the bill came.

Lucas, her best friend and now business partner was staying in the room below hers, and he was working on a new theory of quantum physics and mechanics. He had been dealing with a mental block for the past few weeks, but he’d finally gotten past it and was finally enjoying some quality time with his tools and formulas. He was almost finished with what was going to be the pinnacle of scientific discovery when things went terribly wrong. He wasn’t sure how, but the machine he had been building activated, by itself. It wasn’t supposed to be able to do that, but there it was, glowing and humming like some demented carnival ride. It took up most of the room and when it started to spin, the wind in the room was too much for the balcony doors. They blew out, shattering the glass and splintering the wood against the balcony railing. 

The crashing was loud enough to drag Sarah out of her rage induced destruction and she felt her heart stop for a second time as she heard Lucas yelling below her. She grabbed her purse and phone on the way out of the door, running carefully to the stairs so she didn’t break a heel and injure herself. She was at his door in seconds, pounding on it and demanding he let her in. There wasn’t a response, but the door flew inward a moment later and Sarah saw something that stole her breath. In the middle of the room was a miniature black hole, swirling with shades of purple and light blue and white, sucking in everything in the room, including Lucas, who had just disappeared as the door opened. 

Before Sarah could do anything but gasp, she was lifted off her feet and flung head first into the gaping mouth of the black hole. Everything was a jumble after that. Lots of screaming and grabbing at a hand she couldn’t quite catch up to and then she was deposited none too gently onto a beach. 

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

It was sunny out, and hot, far too hot to be wearing the sweater and pants she was currently in. She heard a groan from somewhere to her left and recognized the voice as Lucas. She was about to sit up when she felt something inside her snap. It was painful for a moment and then she was unconscious, a slight trickle of blood trailing down the side of her face from her mouth.  
The whole incident seemed to go unnoticed, but there was a man, on a ship, with a spyglass and icy blue eyes that couldn’t repress a smile. Finally, something new, something fresh that would hopefully prove useful to him in ridding himself of that fool Pan.


	2. Waking Up In Hell

Sarah was confused. She was surrounded by darkness and felt like she was floating but at the same time she felt all together too still for comfort. She couldn’t feel her heart beat and she didn’t think she was breathing, but she knew she wasn’t dead. She had a vague memory of being on a beach, but it was so fleeting that it seemed like a dream.

“Sarah, sweet heart, can you hear me?” a voice asked, sounding very far away and small. She tried to speak, but found that her voice was either hiding or gone so she just settled for nodding and hoping the speaker could see her. 

“That’s good. Do you know who I am?” the voice asked. It sounded familiar to her, but she couldn’t place it until she heard the laugh. It was her father. She felt herself smile and nodded again, wishing with every fiber that she could speak. She felt a touch of her cheek and it brought with it so many other feelings that if she could’ve screamed, she would have.

It was like she’d been lying down on all her limbs for months and the circulation had just started returning. It felt like pins and needles all over her body and she felt the tears sliding down her cheeks before the light started to invade her eyes.

“Cap’n, Cap’n I think she’s wakin’ up,” the voice sounded old, seasoned and slightly weak. It reminded Sarah of the “Smee” character from her favorite adaptation of “Peter Pan”.

“Well then you’d best go and get her something to drink,” this voice sounded cold, irritated and dangerous. There was no answer to his comment, just a shuffling of footsteps and a closing door. It seemed that it was just the other man in the room with her, judging from the quiet that accompanied the old man’s exit. “Are you awake my dear?” the man asked, walking slowly to the bed.

Sarah tried to reply, but found her voice was still too afraid to make itself known, so she settled, yet again, for nodding. Fire seemed to lick up the back of her neck as she did that, stopping her actions rather quickly.

“Don’t try to move, you’ve been seriously injured,” the voice was definitely closer now, and she felt the surface, she presumed it was a bed from the softness; she was lying on sink on one side, signaling that the man had taken a seat beside her. “Please remain still, I don’t wish to hurt you,” the man said, though from the tone of his voice, he wouldn’t have minded at all if he ended up hurting her. She grimaced inwardly as a hand was laid on her neck, but it felt like the hand was covered in cotton, or her neck was. The pressure he applied sent more fire up and down her neck and back and her voice chose that moment to come back as a pained gasp escaped her chapped lips.  
“Yes, I know it hurts, please remain still. I have to cut your bandages,” the man said. Sarah could hear the grin in his voice and it sent a shiver down her spine, accompanied with more pain. The man laughed; apparently he had seen her body shake. “Fear not, I won’t hurt you…intentionally,” he said. As he was talking, Sarah could feel cold metal against her skin.

She tried to map it with her mind, based on the feel of it, but couldn’t come up with a single pair of scissors or any other cutting instrument that matched what she was feeling. Then an image rose, unbidden, to her mind…a hook. She couldn’t help the gasp that came out and her hand seemed to move without asking her brain. The man stilled, probably watching her hand as it moved up to her neck to feel the metal that was still buried in the bandages around her neck. She touched it slowly, hoping to be wrong, but found that it felt just like a hook and as she moved down it, she felt an arm, but no hand.

“Satisfied?” the man asked, using his hand to grasp hers and lower it back to the bed. “You needn’t fear me, I need you alive and well and thus have no reason to harm you,” he said, still clearly smiling. He jerked through her bandages with one vicious swipe and began to peel the cloth away as fresh tears rolled down Sarah’s cheeks. “Forgive the sudden removal, I realize that must’ve hurt, but there was no helping it,” his voice sounded anything but remorseful.

“I’ve brought her some water Cap’n, and some Rum, for the pain that is,” the old man, Smee, was back.

“Very good, I’ll leave you to tend to her,” the man, Hook, said. She could hear his boot steps retreating out of the room and the sound of the door closing again. As soon as he was gone, Smee started into a muttered tirade about his captain, careful to keep his voice low as he bustled around the room, grabbing things and setting them down by the bed.

“Well then, let’s have a look then. Ah, you’re on the mend I see. You gave me quite a fright you know, popping up on the beach like that. Came clean out of nowhere and somehow managed to almost break your neck almost all the way through. Lucky we got to you when we did.” He said, settling beside the bed and gently prodding at her neck.

“Water?” it was the first time she’d been able to use her voice for anything other than a gasp, and it showed her just how true Smee’s words were. She felt like her head was duct taped on and her wind pipe registered its objection to her speaking almost instantly.

“Oh, right, and I wouldn’t be talking just yet if I were you. Let’s just start with you opening your eyes eh?” he said, settling the rim of a glass to her lips and tipping it very gently back. Sarah opened her lips against the tiny trickle of water and tried to let it slide down her throat without strangling herself. It took her a few tries before she managed to get a rhythm, but eventually some of the water ended up in her stomach and Smee removed the cup. He set it aside and returned to her, laying a hand on her shoulder.

“Do you think you could try and open yer eyes?” he asked, his voice filled with a quiet support. It made Sarah smile and she took as deep a breath as her sore throat would allow and focused all her effort on lifting her eyelids, which felt like two trucks sewn onto her face. It was frustrating for her, something that was normally an automatic response being so difficult, but she finally managed to drag them open. The sight that met her eyes was a shock. She’d already figured out that what happened to her wasn’t a dream, but to be presented with the reality of it was another matter entirely. The room was rustic, dark and beautiful, all at the same time. It didn’t seem possible to fit all the class and elegance into such a small and dark space. 

The wood was aged and scarred, the windows were rusted portholes, but everything inside was a direct contrast from the room it was housed in. There was an antique looking desk along the back wall, a long table down the middle, and the opulent wooden bed she was lying in. It was all done in dark wood, aged but well loved and polished to a shine, and the red and gold tones of the fabric seemed to make it sparkle. There was red velvet everywhere, and where there wasn’t velvet there was gold silk or white linen. If Sarah had to think of a modern term for it, it would have to be “man cave”. That thought made her want to laugh, but the knowledge of the pain that it would cause made her choke it back and settle for laughing in her head. Who knew that the fearsome Captain Hook would have a man cave on his ship? But she guessed that grown men in Neverland were still grown men, and she didn’t know of a man who didn’t have a man cave, if he had the money to build it.

Sarah had been so busy observing and thinking, that she’d lost track of what Smee was saying. She turned her attention back to him when he looked back at her. The look of confusion on her face must’ve been funny because he smiled so wide it made his eyes crinkle at the corners.

“It’s a lot to take in on such short notice, I know. The cap’n sure does like to impress,” he said, laughing softly. “I’m gonna put my hand under yer neck so you can sit up a little. I need ta rebandage ya,” he said, putting action to words and helping her to elevate slightly. He was much gentler than the captain had been, but it still hurt like all hell when he started to apply pressure. He seemed to notice the tears because he started to whisper soothing platitudes as he worked, pausing every now and again to wipe tears away or rub her shoulder supportively. Finally it was over and he helped her to lay back down.

“What’s…your…name?” she asked, her voice still raspy and faint.

“They call me Smee,” he said, smiling at her again.

“I’m…Sarah,” she said, taking a deep breath.

“Well, wish we coulda met under differnt ways, but it’s good ya meet ya Sarah,” he said, patting her shoulder. “Now ya need ta rest, I’ll be right over there if’n ya need me,” he said, pointing over to a beaten up looking rocking chair in the corner. “Cap’n should be back soon, he’ll have some ideas about ya by then,” he said, sighing. He made one last soothing motion and walked out of her vision.

Sarah sighed mentally, trying to sort through her thoughts as her eyes, still unbearably heavy, started to drift closed. Just as she was nodding off, the door slammed shut and heavy boot steps made their way over to the bed.  
Her eyes flew open again as someone grabbed her and lifted her bodily away from the soft mattress. She felt a scream rip its way out of her throat as her head snapped back, sending lighting and fire down her spine. It didn’t last more than a second before her head was yanked up to meet a pair of scarlet red eyes.

“You’re a Darling?” he shouted.

“Cap’n, ya shouldn’t be movin’ her like that,” Smee said, getting slowly out of his chair.

“Quiet, you sniveling worm,” the captain said, glaring over his shoulder at the old man. It didn’t even seem to register with Smee, as he just resumed his seat.

“Answer me woman, are you a Darling?” he asked, shaking her violently. The pain was almost enough to knock her unconscious, but Fate, it would seem, wasn’t kind enough to grant her that.

“Please…put me…down,” she gasped, her body feeling heavy with agony.

“Is your last name Darling!?” he snarled, releasing his grip on her head so that it fell back again.

“Yes!” she screamed, fighting to lift her head. The captain reached down and pulled her head straight again, relieving the pressure on her spine. He laid her back on the bed and stalked to the other side of the room. He seemed to be muttering something, and every time he looked her way, his eyes would tint red again.

Smee had gotten up the moment the Captain had moved away and was tending to her with shaky hands. He picked up what looked like an old fashioned needle and vial and prepared what was unmistakably supposed to be a shot.  
The liquid inside was an opaque white and it reminded her very strongly of opium, which scared her. She’d been into some pretty bad stuff before she got clean, and she didn’t want to go back there again. She tried to move away from him, to show her reluctance in some way that wouldn’t make her feel any worse, but he didn’t seem to be paying attention, and she felt the all too familiar sting of the needle in her arm, and soon enough, she welcomed her old friends Bliss and Blackness as she drifted off into unconsciousness. Her last thought, before succumbing entirely to the drug was how much she really hated the captain and how much Smee reminded her of her father. It left her with a smile and when she sank into her dreamland, it was in the company of his kind face.


	3. Escape, A Bath...And A Plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, I know some parts of this are highly unrealistic, like Sarah nearly snapping her neck and not being a quadriplegic afterward, but I always imagined Neverland to have a strange effect on the body, like how Captain Hook never ages, so if it doesn’t make complete sense, just take it with a grain of salt.

“Come on, just to the table, you can do it,” Smee urged, hovering by Sarah’s side in case she fell…again. It had been a month since she had been brought aboard and her injuries had made incredible progress in healing. Her head didn’t seem like a lead weight anymore and she could move it freely without fear of her neck snapping, but she was weak. A month in a bed will do that to a person, and she was having a devil of a time getting her muscles back to where they had been. It was frustrating, not being able to just get up and walk to a table not even ten feet away without having to worry about falling flat on her ass, couple that with the stress of the Captain’s constant interrogations and you have a recipe for a very pissy young woman. 

She felt sorry for Smee, he’d been so kind to her as she was healing and he was always on the receiving end of her anger. He took it good naturedly though, always laughing softly and shaking his head, like she was a three year old throwing a fit, which is probably how she seemed, but she didn’t care, letting it out felt good. All of this was racing around in circles in her head while she was tottering around the cabin, reaching a hand out to balance herself, and catch herself with should she fall. But it would seem that the fates were smiling on her today, because before she could fall, she managed to bump into the table and collapse into a chair. She couldn’t stop the stupid grin coming to her face, this was the furthest she’d been able to go without her legs giving out and the rush of accomplishment was only strengthened by the sound of Smee’s quiet applause. She was just turning to smile at him, when the door to the cabin opened and the ever resplendent and irritating Captain Hook walked in.

“Ah, progress I see, soon you’ll be moving around the whole ship,” he said, making it sound like some kind of crime.

“Yes well I’ll try to stay out of your way,” she quipped, her mouth once again moving faster than her brain. The harsh sting of the hook under her face brought her sharply down from her “happy place”.

“You are still as insolent as you were the day we met. This will have to change if you expect to remain breathing,” he whispered, leaning down next to her ear to make a point. He was bigger and much stronger than she was and he had no qualms with hurting her.

“Sorry, I’ll work on it,” she said. She knew that she should try to be nicer, but she couldn’t bring herself to submit to him, even if it meant her life. He was too much like her old boyfriends, using his strength as an unfair advantage against those he knew he could dominate.

“See that you do,” he said, stepping back and turning to Smee. “How goes our investigation?” he asked, walking over to the desk sitting in the corner of the room.

“The young man seems to have found the Lost Boys Cap’n. They’re giving him a devil of a time too I can tell you, seem to think he’s one of us Sir,” he said, walking over to the desk to tend to the easily irritable captain.

“Are they now, well we shall have to go and rescue him. One more hand on the ship will be most useful and maybe he can take your place with the insolent one,” he said, using his favorite reference of Sarah. He heard her stifle a remark and she didn’t miss the grin that spread across his face.

“I’ll set the boys on it then shall I?” Smee asked, moving sideways to the door, making sure that his captain was happy.

“See that you do, I’ll look after your charge while you’re gone,” Hook said, grinning over at Sarah in a way that could only be called terrifying. Smee seemed a little resistant to that idea, but didn’t say anything as he scuttled out of the door. “Now then, we can have some time to get to know one another,” Hook said, getting up from his desk and walking over to the table, sitting in the chair directly behind her. “It is polite to turn and face your conversational companion,” he said.

“I would, but I can’t,” she said, trying to keep the irritation out of her voice.

“And why can’t you?” he asked, the humor in his voice betraying that he already knew the reason.

“The chair is pushed in too much, I can’t get my legs through and it’s too heavy for me to push out,” she said, knowing that all he was hearing was “help me I’m a poor weak woman,” and hating every second of it.

“Oh, forgive me, allow me to assist you,” he said, sounding more and more amused with each word. She heard his chair scrape along the floor as he pushed it out and then she was being lifted and turned. When she was seated again, she was facing his chair, but he wasn’t in it. She heard the chair behind her move out and heard him settle into it.

“Well now, you are still being quite rude,” he said, sounding like he was fighting back laughter.

“You could always move to face me,” she said, trying to sound polite.

“I would rather not move, I’m quite comfortable,” he said, leaning forward so he was almost pressed against her. “And I like the view from here,” he said. 

“Oh fuck you!” she said, before she could think to stop herself. The next thing she knew the chair she was sitting it was sent flying across the room, sending her to the floor yet again. She was just pushing herself up when her arms were kicked out from under her and her body was turned so that she could see the now very dangerous Captain Hook that was looming over her.

“You will learn your place or you will die. I will tolerate no more of this insolence on my ship, do you understand?” he asked, pressing the point of his hook into her throat hard enough to draw blood. She just nodded softly, feeling the point of the hook move in her skin and wincing as it widened the cut. He seemed satisfied with that and pulled her to her feet roughly, pushing her in the direction of the bed, missing by a few inches and making her knock her head against the wooden bed frame. He heard the crack, or seemed to, through the pounding in her head she couldn’t tell why he turned around, but she felt herself being lifted and dumped onto the bed. She felt herself starting to slip into unconsciousness, but was dimly aware of a hand pressing on different spots on her head. It continued until she gasped, resting on the spot where she’d hit. She was expecting something cruel to happen next, but the hand was lifted and a moment later she heard the door slam shut. 

“Fuck him, and the ship he sailed in on,” she muttered, turning in the bed and stuffing a pillow around her head to shield it from the light coming in from the port hole. As the darkness closed in around her, she welcomed the deep sleep that came with it.

********************  
Two Weeks Later….  
********************

Sarah stopped in front of the door, drawing a breath. This would be the first time she was out in the fresh air since she woke up on the beach over a month ago, and she was a little nervous about what she might see. All the pirate movies she’d ever seen went flashing through her head at the sound of the shouts and laughter coming from the deck. All of it was decidedly male and sounded “rowdy” to quote her father. It brought up memories of the gangs she used to run with, the life she’d had before her father had come to take her to something better. The thought of him made her turn to look at Smee, standing behind her with a smile on his face, urging her to step outside. His face was calming and she took a deep breath, opening the door and stepping out onto the deck of the ship.

It was a truly beautiful sight. The ship was smaller than she’d expected, but the island and water around it were truly a wonderful sight. The water was a clear crystalline blue, like something from the Caribbean and the colors of the island seemed to be brighter than any other color she’d seen. Everything here was like that, even the dark colors seemed richer and everything seemed more detailed.

“Oh bravo Miss,” Smee said, walking up behind her and patting her back affectionately. 

“Thank you Smee, I’d still be in that bed if not for you,” she said, turning and giving him a hug. He seemed shocked by the action, but after a moment he returned the embrace.

“I may vomit,” a voice, thick with sarcasm and contempt intruded on their moment. It was the captain, but then again who else would it be. He had a knack for showing up right when Sarah was either happy or feeling vulnerable and knew just what to say to set her off. She thought that he did it on purpose sometimes, just to entertain himself and remind her who was in charge, not that she could ever forget.

“Lookit Cap’n. She’s up and about,” Smee said, bragging over her like a proud grandparent.

“Yes Smee, I have eyes. Does this mean you’ll no longer be monopolizing my first mate?” he asked, turning his head to Sarah.

“Well I guess if you deem me fit then he won’t have to watch over me anymore,” she said, giving herself constant reminders to “play nice”. The cut from a couple weeks ago was just now fully closing and it still itched.

“I do and he does not, but he will find you a room of your own and get you some clothes and a bath, I can’t have a stinking harlot walking around my ship.” He said, grinning as he saw her fuse start to spark. Surely he was expecting a smart remark or a quip about his own hygiene, it was a war that had been going on for the better part of a month. He would always threaten her and it would keep her in line long enough for him to think of new insults, but what he didn’t expect was a hard slap across the face followed by the sound of a splash.

The ship went silent as all the men looked up at their captain. No one had ever hit him, no man and especially no woman had ever dared. No one knew how to react or what to expect from him, so they just quietly went about their duties, a few in the rigging stopped to watch the young woman swimming to shore.

“Smee, we’re going ashore,” Hook said, speaking quietly and clearly before disappearing into his cabin. Smee looked out at the water, watching the girl get further and further away, wishing her all the speed she could manage, because he knew she wouldn’t last long when the captain found her.

**************************  
Elsewhere on the Island…  
**************************

Lucas was miserable. He was itchy and cold and wet and very unhappy. Those stupid kids had been chasing him around all day and calling him a pirate and every time he thought he’d lost them, the blonde would pop out of some tree and fly after him. It was testing his sanity. Everyone knew that people couldn’t fly, but here was this little boy, breaking physics and centuries of science like it was nothing, all while wielding a very sharp sword with skill that should take decades to acquire. Night seemed to be the only time he was safe. Guess bedtimes applied even if there were no adults. He’d seen what looked like Indians a couple times, but they seemed content to just let him wander around so at least he didn’t have to worry about random tomahawks flying at him as well as small boys with swords.

Currently he was hidden in a bush of what was almost certainly something he was allergic to and if the itching was anything to go by, there were probably more than a few bugs crawling on him right now, but he found that he wasn’t nearly as squeamish about that sort of thing as he used to be. Guess a month and a half of running for your life all day can change a person. All he wanted was a bath, something to clean the mud and bugs off of him, but the only water he’d found on the island was full of mermaids, or that’s what he assumed they were. Women with fish tails are generally only called one thing, but these seemed threatening. Not at all like Ariel and her sisters. They looked like they’d kill him if he even stepped a toe in the water, so he’d just run off, hearing the crowing of that infernal child nearby.

He sighed, brushing off what bugs and dirt he could and hunkered down next to the tree growing behind the bush he was in. He was just about to close his eyes for a few hours when he heard rustling. His exhaustion disappeared as he readied himself to run. The sound was coming from his left, louder than any of the boys he’d heard so far, and images of nocturnal predators flashed through his head, but when he saw a woman staggering through the underbrush he felt his heart stop.

“Sarah!” he shouted, springing up and running over to her. She was holding her shoulder, which was bleeding and seemed to be smiling, though he couldn’t see why.

“Lucas?” she said, looking up at him.

“Yeah, what happened to your shoulder?” he asked.

“I fell. What are you doing here?” she asked, looking him over.

“I’m being chased by a demented horde of children,” he said, looking around like the mere mention of them would bring them down on him. Sarah just slumped against a tree, laughing softly. “And just what is so funny about that?” he asked.

“Nothing, just laughing at the situation,” she said.

“What situation?” he asked, looking over at her as he settled against another tree.

“I just escaped off a pirate ship and you’re being chased by Peter Pan,” she said, breaking into another round of laughter. Lucas sat back, thinking for a second before he started laughing too. The danger seemed completely imagined when the name Peter Pan was associated with it.

“We’re screwed huh?” he asked, looking over at her, still chuckling.

“Completely,” she said, angling herself so that the tree was supporting her injured shoulder.

“Want me to take a look at that?” he asked, turning to face her.

“What? Oh this is nothing compared to what I’ve been through, it’s not even dislocated, I’ll be fine,” she said, waving him away. “Well, this reunion has been great, but I need to get out of here before Hook picks up my trail,” she said, standing and waving before she disappeared through the trees. Lucas started to say “wait”, but knew it was a futile gesture. She wanted to be alone and there was nothing he could do to change her mind. He decided that sleep could wait, he needed to find an actual shelter if he was going to sleep, bushes weren’t gonna hide him from the Lost Boys and getting caught asleep was a good way to get killed.

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Sarah desperately needed a bath. Hook hadn’t been lying when he said that she smelled. She’d been bathing as best she could out of a bowl for over a month but there were some places you just couldn’t get clean like that.   
That was her current objective, find some kind of body of water that she could bathe in and then a place she could sleep, and she found both of those things in the form of a small grotto that had a pool and a small waterfall.   
She couldn’t believe her luck, as she walked around the edge of the pool, inspecting the water and the small cave that was hidden by the waterfall. It was the perfect spot and she was stripped and in the water before she could even think about someone sneaking up on her. To be honest, she didn’t care if Hook found her bare ass naked right now, she was too happy to be clean.

She soaked in the water for a little while and then proceeded over to the waterfall, practically screaming with excitement when she found some soap root growing near it. So this place was a cleansing pool, must be the Indian’s handiwork. She pulled some of it out by the stem and pulled the small pods off the ends, wetting them under the waterfall’s spray and rubbing them through her hair. She smiled as they started to dissolve, letting off a light scent of earth and something flowery. It would probably leave her hair really dry, but so long as it was clean, she didn’t really care. She rinsed the slick substance out of her hair and contented herself with just standing under the falls for a little while, marveling over how nice it felt to be clean.

She was too busy enjoying the water to notice the man standing in the cover of the forest. The only thing that gave him away was the glint of the light off his hook. If she’d seen him she might’ve wondered why he didn’t just charge forward and kill her, but the truth was that he was too stunned to even move. Hook had broken off from the rest of the search party to go speak with the Indians. They weren’t on the best of terms, but he could usually press some of the weaker ones for information before he was “chased” out of the village. He had stumbled upon the pool after taking a wrong turn in the forest and was in absolute shock. He’d never seen so pale a woman before. Her body was almost glowing in the moonlight, broken only by the dark tattoos on her back, neck and shoulders. He thought he’d seen another one on the outside of her right calf and was anxious to see if she had any others.

He watched as she washed herself and couldn’t repress a shudder when she would half turn, showing just a hint of breast. He was torn between rushing out to kill her and rushing out to do something else. He was not a noble man, despite what most women tended to think of him, and he had no problem with taking a woman against her will, but something about Sarah’s spirit, combined with the work of art that was her body, seemed to give him pause.   
In that moment he made a promise to himself. He would have her, and it would be because she wanted it. He would make her want him and then he would possess her entirely. The thought of it sent a thrill down his spine and he had to try very hard to keep from laughing. What a wicked man he was. With that thought he crept back into the forest, determined to lead his men away from this spot, not wanting any of his “goods” to be seen and potentially spoiled by his men. 

As Hook retreated into the woods Sarah finished her “shower” and went to retrieve her clothing, dragging all of it through the water and walking into the cave. Her thoughts about the Indians were confirmed when she saw the stacks of furs and firewood in the cave. If she’d been less tired she probably would’ve thought twice about staying here, but she was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to curl up on one of the furs and start a fire so that’s exactly what she did. After she got a good blaze going, she laid out one of the thicker furs and wrapped herself up in a thinner one, laying down by the fire and pillowing her head on her arms. She was asleep in seconds, but she wasn’t alone.


	4. The Plot Thickens

“Are you sure she’s the right one?” 

“The Indians said that the girl we needed would be there, she was the only one there,” 

“But, she so old,” The voices were young, little boys, probably around seven to ten if Sarah was right. But why were they there and what were they talking about?

“Lady. Are you awake yet?” this voice was much closer. It sounded like it was right next to her ear. “Wake up lady, we need to talk to you,” it continued. The next thing she knew, she was being poked. It shocked her so much that she shot up off of what had to be a bed and smacked her head against the canopy above her.

“Son of a bitch!” she shouted, holding the back of her head. There was a round of giggling and as she opened her eyes she saw a group of boys gathered around her. “Oh, hi.” She said, feeling incredibly stupid.

“Finally, we’ve been waiting for you to wake up for almost three hours,” the boy said, staring up at her indignantly.

“Who are you?” Sarah asked, starting to feel indignant herself.

“I’m Peter, and these are the Lost Boys,” he said, stepping back so that he was surrounded by the ten or so boys, all of which were decked out in furs and skins and all of which were armed.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” she muttered, sinking down onto the bed. It was then that she noticed that she was dressed. Normally she wouldn’t notice, but since she’d fallen asleep naked, it was a little bit of a shock to see that she was in her favorite pair of pajamas. 

“We have your pirate friend, he’s the one that brought you the clothes,” Peter explained, clearly noticing her confusion.

“Pirate friend?” she asked, her mind immediately going to either Smee or Hook.

“Yeah, he’s been running around the island for weeks. He’s a slippery one, but we finally caught him,” Peter said, grinning mischievously.

“Lucas?” she asked, standing up off the bed. The sudden movement seemed to startle all the boys and even caused some of them to draw their weapons. “How do I get outside?” she asked, looking to Peter.

“Why do you want to go outside?” he asked.

“To get to my friend,” she said, trying to keep from snapping his head off.

“You mean the pirate?” he asked, clearly enjoying this little game they were playing.

“Damn it, if you don’t tell me how to get outside I will beat you to within an inch of your life,” she said, using the voice that always made her little cousins listen to her. It seemed to work because he lost the playful look and stomped over to a hidden exit and pointed at it. “Thank you,” she said, walking out of the tree house and into the sunshine.

“Sarah!” Lucas shouted, starting to struggle against his ropes.

“Lucas! Are you ok?” she asked, running over to him.

“Yeah, sorry little brats tricked me. They asked me to bring your suitcase from where I’d hidden it and then the little monsters jumped me,” he said, straining against the ropes. 

“Hold still, I’ll get you loose,” she said, leaning around him to start working on the knots.

“Thanks. So did they say why they wanted you?” he asked.

“No, but I didn’t really give them time to. Honestly I don’t really care. Since we got here I’ve had a broken neck, been mocked and abused by Hook and now I’m the prisoner of Pan and the Lost Boys. I just want to get home and pretend all of this was a bad acid trip,” she said, wrenching the knots loose.

“I know what you mean, but I’m not sure how to get us home. I’ve been hiding out with the Indians, and from what I’ve heard of their legends, this is some kind of alternate dimension. It’s small, just the island and the surrounding ocean, which is why Hook is stuck here, but I’m sure there’s a way out, I just have to study the legends some more so I can find it.” He said, rubbing his wrists to restore circulation.

“Well you better study quick, because I’m on the verge of murder,” she said, standing and brushing herself off.

“Do you think we’re safe here?” Lucas asked, looking at the rotten tree trunk.

“Are we safe anywhere?” she asked, looking over at him. “Don’t suppose you’ve got a cigarette do you? I haven’t had one in almost a month and I’m dying for some nicotine,” she said, sighing and leaning against the tree trunk.

“As a matter of fact, I do. Well, more accurately You do. You had a whole carton in your suitcase and it’s right around that little tree to your left,” he said, pointing to where the shadow of a suitcase could just be made out from the underbrush.

“You are a god!,” she said, practically running over to it. She pulled it out of the weeds and grimaced at the state of the suitcase itself. She’d just gotten it a few weeks ago and it was already scuffed and torn in places, but everything seemed to be intact so she just tossed it on the ground and threw open the top compartment, all but ripping the carton open and pulling out a pack of cigarettes. She found her lighter there as well and after peeling the plastic off the box, she leaned against the tree and took a long drag.

“Okay, the noise you just made should be reserved for sex,” Lucas said, walking over and pulling another cigarette out of the pack.

“Shut it,” she said, tapping ash off the end of her smoke. They sat there in silence, eyes closed, smoke drifting around them in little tendrils and they were in such a state of relaxation that they didn’t notice all the boys creeping out of the tree.

“Whatcha doin?” Peter shouted, shocking both of them and making Sarah drop her cigarette.

“Damn it kid, You wanna start a forest fire or something?” she shouted, snuffing out the glowing end of the cigarette as well as the tiny sparks that had jumped from it to the leaves around it.

“Sorry,” he muttered.

“It's alright, just don’t sneak up on me like that ok?” she said, looking up at him. “And to answer your question, we were smoking. It’s something we do to relax,” she said.

“Isn’t that bad for you?” one of the boys asked.

“Yeah, but one of the joys of being an adult is that I don’t have to care what’s bad for me,” she said.

“There’s nothing good about being an adult” Peter said, conviction seeping into every word.

“That’s your opinion. I wouldn’t go back to being a kid to save my life,” she said, looking over at him.

“Well then you’re no better than the rest of the grownups here,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest.

“What about the Indians? There are adults there and you don’t seem to mind them,” Sarah said, grinning when she saw he didn’t have a response.

“Sarah, he’s just a kid, be nice,” Lucas said, standing up and brushing himself off.

“Well then he should stick to arguing with the kids and stay out of the big leagues,” she said, leaning over the suitcase and pulling out a pair of jeans, a blank tank top and the underwear that went along with it. She walked behind a large tree, growling out a warning to everyone to not peek and walked out a few moments later feeling much better. She pulled a pair of socks and hiking boots out of her suitcase and slipped them on.  
“God, that is so much better. Now I’m ready for trekking through the friggin’ forest,” she said, tossing the pjs back into the suitcase.

“Why did you have hiking boots in your suitcase?” Lucas asked, looking over at her incredulously.

“Because there are some awesome trails around the complex we were staying in and I like to catch a quick hike or two in between all my signing sessions and stuff,” she said, stowing her cigs and ighter in her pocket and stashing her suitcase back where she’d found it.

“Oh, that’s a very good reason,” he said, nodding and grinning dumbly.

“Thanks, glad to know you approve. Now, why the hell am I here?” she asked, turning to Peter.

“We need your help to bring down Hook,” he said, getting his grin back.

“Oh really? Tell me more,” she said, kneeling down to hear him better.


	5. Confusing Interlude

Sarah grinned despite herself, the plan was flawless. She would wait in the woods, leading Hook on a wild goose chase and then Pan and his boys would attack from behind, pinning the pirates in the shallow valley, blocking the only exit. If all went to plan, which it would, Hook would be out of her hair and she could focus on getting home. She knew Hook was off on his own; she’d seen his troops patrolling around and had yet to see him, which made her uneasy. She didn’t like it when she knew something was wrong with her plan, it made her nervous and after that, the self-doubt generally started in with a vengeance.

She was near the place where she’d been bathing, the small cave served as a nice place to sit and dry off after she got clean, and she didn’t have to worry about any of the lost boys bothering her. One of the perks of being the only adult they trusted was that they listened to everything she said without any argument what-so-ever, and one of her orders was that she was not to be disturbed when she went to bathe. She was nearing the top of the hill where the pool was located when she heard a soft splash. She knelt down, moving silently through the underbrush, parting the branches of a low hanging tree so she could get a better look at the pool and see who had made the splashing sound. It was Hook.

He was sunk waist deep into the water, left mercifully murky due to his recent dive into it, but the half that was exposed was enough to make Sarah hot under the collar. The man was beautiful. There was no other word for it. Lean muscle rippled under pale skin, marred with scars from battles past. His hair, normally wildly curly hung wavy and wet down his back, trickling water down his spine in a way that caught Sarah’s eye. He started to turn and she moved, blending further into the back brush, trusting the shadows to hide her. He reached for his pistol, left lying close to the edge of the pool and drew the hammer back with his thumb. Her heart quickened and she let the branches drift back into place silently, moving so that her back was against the trunk of one of the trees that surrounded the pool.

She heard water splash again, and the sound of bare feet on grass. Clothing rustled and a moment later, Hook appeared at the edge of the wood, barely visible between the leaves of the trees. He was still topless, wearing nothing but his breeches, comfortably tight and mouthwatering to look at from her vantage point. He had the gun still, his ice blue eyes scanning the surroundings for any disturbance. She tried to stay as quiet as possible, but her footing was starting to slip, the earth here was so damp that it was sliding out from under her feet. She took a deep breath, deciding to chance it and run. She coiled, turning her body slowly forward before she shot off through the forest, the sound of pursuit close behind her. She thought she was home free once she made it off the hill, but the feeling of another body colliding with hers let her know just how wrong she was. Hook shoved into her hard, forcing her to the ground, pinning her there with his hand and his hook. The look on his face was terrifying and electrifying at the same time, it was like looking into the eyes of a tiger.

“Ms. Darling, how good to see you again,” he said, leaning closer to her. “I must say that you smell much better than when last we saw each other,” he grinned as her hand started to come up. He shoved it down roughly, his gun clattering away as he did.

“Get off me,” she said, struggling under him. He’d managed to get his hips between her legs so she had little leverage and all she could really do was wiggle.

“Careful dear, I wouldn’t be moving like this if I were you,” he said, his eyes turning fierce. “I’m not going to hurt you, though I would dearly love to,” he said, pressing his hook into the flesh of her shoulder. “I still need you, especially now that you’re so close to Pan,” he said, the slow smile on his face spreading to a full on grin. It sent flames through her body, running through her veins and coalescing in a very uncomfortable spot.

“Hook, get the hell off me,” she said, bucking her hips against him in an attempt to get her legs free. It just made the pressure on her that much more noticeable and she could feel her face flushing with the heat she could feel gathering in her. She thought she heard him growl for a moment, but wrote it off as her imagination, her eyes leveling with his again. He looked wild, his hair was starting to dry and curl around his face, forming a curtain around them and his muscles bunched around his arms and shoulders with the strain of keeping her down.

She couldn’t help letting her eyes wander over his exposed body again, the tight muscles all but pressing into her stomach, the bunched muscles in his chest pressing against her breasts lightly. She moved up to his face, studying his features, the soft looking lips, thin and masculine, the pointed nose, something that reminded her of being “high born”, the high cheekbones and tanned skin. Finally she made it up to his eyes and her breath caught in her throat. His eyes were even more striking up close, they were the lightest shade of blue she’d ever seen and they were boring right into hers.

Before she knew what happened, Hook had let his body rest against hers, pressing his lips against hers in a fierce kiss. It sent liquid desire coursing through her, setting everything from her lips to her toes on fire. She fought it down, struggling to get free, succeeding only in rubbing herself against him further. This time he did growl, his tongue forcing itself through her lips to deepen the kiss. She tried to fight back the tiny sounds of pleasure that escaped her, but after a moment knew that there was no helping it. His grip on her relaxed and her brain fought its way up out of the fog of arousal and forced her to kick at him, shoving him off of her with one foot as she turned, scrambling to her feet and jetting off into the forest.

She arrived at the lost boys hiding place about fifteen minutes later, panting and altogether too tight in places that shouldn’t be. One of the lost boys asked her a question but she didn’t even answer before going to the small room they’d made for her, shutting the door and slumping onto her bed. What the hell had just happened? She rubbed her lips softly with her finger, closing her eyes to remember the feeling of his lips on hers. It was enough to make her skin tingle. What was it about him that made her like this? He could push her buttons faster than anyone and no one else had ever been able to get away with kissing her like that without her permission. She sat up, frustrated with herself and pissed off at the pirate captain, then she remembered the plan and went to give Peter the bad news, the attack would have to wait for another day.

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Hook stomped through the forest back to the bathing pool. What the hell had he been thinking? Why had he kissed the insufferable woman like that? Why were his lips still tingling? These and more questions chased each other around in his head as he divested himself of his clothing yet again. He slid into the cold water, gasping as it came in contact with some very sensitive parts of him but fighting through the discomfort as he moved over to the waterfall. It was even colder, but it served the purposes he needed it to.

He kept his bath short, rinsing the soap root away and moving to get dressed again. He stalked back toward the ship, the memory of that foolish woman circling around in his brain. The feel of her lips had been like fire down his spine, her soft breasts pressed against his chest had almost undone him. The breaking point had been her feeble struggles, the feeling of her shirt rubbing against his chest and belly, her hips bucking up against his had sent fire dancing across his senses. He’d caught her looking at him, when he’d first heard the twigs snap around the pool. He’d seen the desire in her eyes then and had thought that it would be a good opportunity to put his plan into action, memories of her naked body under the waterfall had sprung to his mind, all but forcing him into action. He hadn’t expected her to run, he hadn’t even known where she was until she moved, but once he caught her, his whole plan had vanished out of his head. Her softness and curves against his body was enough to drive him mad. When he saw her looking at him, her eyes moving slowly up his body, it had been too much. Her lips had fallen open slightly when her eyes passed over his chest and it was all he could do to keep himself from taking her right there. He thought he could make it through, until her soft hazel eyes connected with his own, they had widened, the pupils dilating till they were almost black and the small gasp that had escaped her lips was all it took to drive him over the edge.

She hadn’t given in, but she wasn’t fighting it either, parts of her body were doing some very enjoyable things but for the most part she was just still, then she’d moaned. It had sent his brain completely offline, shutting down all but the need he felt at that moment. Then she’d kicked him. She’d actually kicked him, hard. He’d been in too much shock to chase after her, but it was just as well, he’d done almost irreparable damage to his plan with that one kiss and he knew it would’ve been more if he’d pursued her. So here he stood, waiting for his men to get back from patrol, his body still entirely too aware of itself and humming with unexpressed tension and he had no idea where any of it had come from. He needed a good long drink and a night of rest, one would surely lead to the other, he just had to refrain from killing anyone till he got to his rooms.

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It had been a week since the kiss and she still couldn’t forget it. She dreamed of the pirate captain, often times all night, and she’d had to come up with many an explanation for the noises she made in her sleep. She couldn’t stop thinking about him. Why had he kissed her? He’d had her in the perfect position to kill her, but he said he still needed her and then he’d kissed her. What had that meant? What did he need her for? She needed answers, but she didn’t want to open the lost boys and Lucas up to any danger and she knew that Hook would take any opportunity to kill Pan that he could find, so she came up with a plan. She went to the Indians, penning a letter to Hook and using one of their carrier birds to deliver it. It detailed her request, a parley with him and him alone in the cave behind the pool so that it would be kept private and then proceeded to move to that part of the island. 

She was the first one there and sighed, moving into the little space and waiting, lighting up a cigarette and leaning back against the wall of the cave. She wasn’t waiting long before she could hear footsteps coming around the other side of the waterfall and a moment later Hook appeared in the opening of the cave, removing his hat and bowing to her.

“Under the terms of the parley, I have come alone, I assume you have done the same?” he asked, looking around the cave.

“Yup, got a few questions for ya,” Sarah said, walking up to him, flicking ash off her cigarette as she did.

“Oh?” he asked, his eyes moving over her body, the clothing she had chosen did nothing to hide the shape of her body and he was more than agreeable with looking.

“Yeah, number one, what do you need me for?” she asked, trying not to slap him for blatantly staring at her.

“As I have said, I need you to get to Pan,” he said, moving his eyes back up to meet hers. That same static started up in her lower belly again, moving out in slow radiating circles.

“Why did you chase me?” she asked.

“I didn’t know it was you when I chased you, it was instinct,” he said, shrugging as if in apology.

“Why did you kiss me?” her voice was softer now, her eyes had lost the reflective quality and were showing true emotion now. He saw confusion, desire that mirrored his own and a certain frailty that made a part of him that he thought long dead stir with a desire to protect her. He couldn’t answer. He didn’t know himself and anything he said would serve only to either upset or alienate her and he needed her to feel that she could trust him, so he did the only thing left to him; he pulled her in close, pressing her body against his.

“I don’t know,” he whispered, pressing his lips against hers again. The kiss was more two sided this time, with her contributing just as much as he and they both became lost in a haze of lips and tongues and caressing hands.  
Somehow, Hook’s coat and hat ended up tossed outside the cavern and Sarah’s shirt had worked its way up over her stomach, showing the slightest hint of the black bra she wore beneath it. 

“We should stop,” Sarah said, her voice breathy as his lips trailed over her neck.

“I agree,” he said, his hands wandering over her stomach and breasts in soft strokes.

“I don’t even know you,” she said, gasping as his hand slipped under the cup of her bra and squeezed gently. His lips found hers again and the talking ceased again. She sat up slightly, pulling her shirt off over her head, her bra joining it a moment later. The sound that Hook made when he saw her bare breasts sent fire coursing through her, liquid heat pooling in her already tingling nethers.

“Take your shirt off,” she said, groaning softly as his hand clamped down on her breast. Hook obeyed, his logical brain screaming at him to stop, that he’d just obeyed an order from a woman, but he ignored it. He needed to feel her. He stripped down to his breeches, his arousal standing out prominently in the fairly tight pants. He looked down at her, now divested of her jeans as well and couldn’t help the small gasp that escaped him. She was gorgeous. Her curves were nothing short of perfect and the black ink of her tattoos stood out sharply against the paleness of her skin. He felt himself twitch in his pants and decided that he was going to have her, here and now.

He stood, pulling her up with him and pushing her against the wall of the cave, holding her there while he used his hook to guide her hands to his pants. She seemed fairly skilled and knowledgeable so he knew she would have no trouble figuring out what he wanted. She looked down as a grin cross her face, sending more wild heat through him in shocks. Gods she was perfect. He felt himself come free of his pants and slashed through the thin fabric of her panties with one stroke, picking her up and pushing her further against the wall. He pinned her between his chest and the wall and let her slide down onto him, sheathing himself fully in her slowly. He felt her walls stretch around him, making him groan as the soft warmth of her surrounded him. He didn’t expect her to push off the wall, toppling them both to the floor. He was expecting searing pain, but instead he felt the soft impact of his head on a hand. He looked up at her to see a slow smirk spread across her face as she leaned down.

“I like to be on top,” she whispered, biting down on his earlobe softly. He gasped and felt his hips jerk upward. It had been so long since he’d had a woman and it would seem that he found the perfect one on the first try.

“If you don’t do something soon, I’m going to hurt you,” he growled, meaning every word. He all but screamed as she started to move, her head falling back at the feeling of him. His hand and hook came to rest on her hips, his own rising to meet hers in a slow rhythm. He tried to gain more speed, needing to feel more of her, but she was resolute in teasing him as much as possible.

He growled, heaving with his hips and turning them over, pinning her between the ground and his own considerable weight. She looked up at him, shock and wild desire evident in her eyes. It was enough to undue any man, but Hook held out, he was have her coming apart beneath him before he let himself finish. He started up on his knees, moving slowly, stroking against that one spot all women have, but it would seem that she was too stubborn, so he moved lower, pressing more of their bodies together as he moved a little faster, the pleasure like a spring coiling in his stomach. Gods above, it felt so good, he’d almost forgotten what it was like to be with a woman and this one was definitely worth it. She was mewling underneath him, her back arching slowly as her own tension gathered, her body seeming to be on fire as his slow rhythm took her higher and higher. She knew that he wanted her to break first, and she would love to, if only he would let go and show her the real animal he was. 

“Oh gods, James please. I need more!,” she shouted. It was seem that calling his name was all it took because a moment later he was hunched over her, his hips moving faster and faster against her, forcing himself into her deeper than any man she’d ever had. It hurt and felt like bliss all at once, she didn’t know which way was up as she felt herself rocketing toward her climax. She came apart with it, shouting his name and clinging to him as he drove his hook down into the rock beside her, using the extra leverage to buck fiercely against her. She felt him shudder as he followed her into ecstasy and felt his body go limp above her.

They lay there for a minute, neither speaking, just enjoying the feeling of resting against another person after years of being alone, but reality can only be denied for so long and it came in the form of a rooster crow sounding from somewhere close by.

“Oh shit,” Sarah groaned, bringing a hand to slap against her forehead.

“Duty calls?” Hook asked, laughing softly as he got up off of her.

“Apparently,” she replied, lifting her destroyed underwear and looking over at him incredulously. “Did they do something to offend you?” she asked, holding them up.

“Yes, they were in the way,” he said, grinning as he dressed himself again. She sighed and slipped into her own clothes. She walked over to him, looking him square in the eye.

“What is this? What are we doing?” she asked, looking to his eyes for answers. All she saw was the same coldness she’d seen before and felt a little part of her shrivel a little more.

“I thought it was obvious,” he said, smirking cruelly as he exited the cave. She waited a few moments more and then left through the opposite side, moving slowly back toward the hide out.


	6. Fighting Never Solves Anything

Sarah had bad dreams that night. They were the same dreams she’d had every other night that week, but they didn’t have the happy endings she’d become accustomed to. Instead, she was faced with abandonment and shame. It was just the same as every relationship she’d ever been in. How had she not seen this coming? She woke early, too early for any of the kids to be awake, even Lucas was still asleep. She slipped into what amounted to hunting clothes, given to her by the Indians, and headed out into the forest. It was still hard for her to believe how at home she felt in this place after so little time here. She’d always been more of a city girl and yet here she was, padding softly through the brush in soft kidskin leggings and boots, knife at the ready in case she came across breakfast.

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Hook couldn’t sleep. His dreams were troubled. Now, you might think a man like Hook would be used to troubled dreams, but the truth was that he generally slept with little to no dreaming at all so you can imagine his surprise when he woke for the third time in as many hours from a nightmare he couldn’t even remember. He knew it involved that woman, but he could never remember anything other than her face, soft and sad and tear stained and so incredibly alone. It made his heart ache which was the truly terrifying part, he cared for her.

He tossed the blankets off with a snarl and planted his feet firmly on the floor. How had this happened? How had he not seen this coming? It was impossible that he could come to care for a simple woman like her. She was unrefined and head strong and had caused him bodily harm on more than one occasion. She’d slapped him, in front of his entire crew and then just run off! It wasn’t possible that he cared for her, he was just imagining things.   
He had to get off the ship, he needed to think and that was incredibly hard to do on a ship full of drunken pirates even through thick wooden walls and doors. He called on Smee, the only sober man on the ship and had him lower a boat and then proceeded to threaten him into secrecy about it. He knew it was unnecessary, Smee was the closest thing to a loyal pirate as you could come by, but it made him feel better to do it, more like himself. 

As he rowed toward shore, he kept thinking of her face. That sad piteous look of shame and loneliness that seemed tattooed onto the backs of his eyelids so that it was all he saw when he closed them. He needed to do something, he wasn’t sure what yet, but something had to give. He would find the woman and force her to explain to him why he saw her face. The more he thought of it the more he liked it. He would find her and force her to explain, perhaps more. Slowly the idea began to morph, it passed through so many different incarnations I couldn’t possibly hope to list them all here and I won’t tell you what he finally decided on, suffice it to say that it was unpleasant at best and fueled mostly by lack of sleep and too much rum.

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Sarah was beginning to feel tired. A walk through the streets always made her feel alert but apparently without all the traffic and potential danger the walk itself was just enough to remind her body of how little sleep it had been getting lately. She sighed, taking a seat in front of an ancient looking willow tree and laid her head back against the soft moss growing along its trunk. The sun was just beginning to make its way through the canopy of leaves and she knew she had time for at least a short nap, so Sarah closed her eyes and allowed her mind to go blank, dropping off into sleep.

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Hook was getting tired. He hated the forest, the never ending line of trees and weeds not to mention all the insects and small animals that insisted on scurrying around him. He hated the uneven ground and all the tree roots that seemed to be put there solely to trip him up. He was a sailor, water was his domain and this was as far from the ocean as it was possible to be. He thought a long trek might help him straighten his thoughts, figure out what to do next or at least alleviate some of his anger, but all it had served to do was remind him how big the island really was and how remote his chances of finding that stupid woman again really were. He wouldn’t admit it, but a small part of him was hoping to see her again, to talk with her. He had enjoyed that small banter the day before, just as they were leaving the cave. It had felt nice, to have another soul that seemed so like his own used to be.

He shook his head, breaking out of that dangerous and probably untrue train of thought before it had a chance to take any real root in him mind. There was no room for softness in his life, no chance to have the kind of relationship his father had had. He was a pirate and that meant danger and excitement, violence and ruthlessness. There was no place for love or softness and to consider such nonsense was a good way to get himself killed. And that’s when he heard it. That damned crowing. It could only be one person. Perhaps today would turn out well after all.

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Sarah was startled out of her nap by the sound of crowing. She caught herself mid sigh, it was probably because of her. She hadn’t meant to sleep so long. Now the boys were awake and she wasn’t there, they must think she’d been captured. They’d be on the offensive straight away she knew, headed off to the ship to get her back. She swore softly, pulling herself out of the brush and setting off at a fast jog back to the tree fort. Maybe she could catch them before they left, it generally took the boys a while to get ready for a battle and even if she missed them, she could always track them and stop them before they got too far. There were quite a few advantages to being an adult.   
She stopped when she heard the break of branches off to her right. It sounded too big to be an animal, to loud to be a boy, which could only mean one thing. She was up a tree and still as death before the pirate even passed her. It was Hook. She felt her blood boil just to see him, both with anger and something she would rather not acknowledge. How dare that bastard come here, what was he doing in the forest so early anyway? No matter, she would send him packing quick enough. She dropped silently from the tree and crept up behind him, knife at the ready. She saw him start to turn but reacted fast and had him in a hold with her blade up to his neck before he could make it all the way around.

“Don’t move or I’ll open you,” she said, pressing the blade more firmly against his neck.

“Ah my dear bother, just the pain in the ass I was looking for,” he grinned and elbowed her hard, ducking out of her reach before she could recover.

“I’m the pain in the ass?” She looked at him, incredulous and confident.

“You disagree?” he felt his heart thrill at the back and forth that had developed, it had been so long since he’d traded wits with someone who could match him.

“Well let’s review the evidence shall we? I have done nothing but defend myself against a man who has repeatedly threatened me, abused me and chased me all over an island that isn’t his all so he can do what? Oh yeah, fuck me, but even though I have clearly been the victim here, I’m the pain in the ass? Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.” Her tone fairly dripped sarcasm and she was pleased to see that some of her barbs had hit home, well, most of her was pleased. One nagging bit of her was actually feeling sorry for the remorse that flashed across Hook’s face.

“Good arguments all, though one sided don’t you think? I was kind enough to take you onto my ship when I found you near dead on the beach. I gave you precious food rations that could have gone to my men who actually needed them. I clothed you, healed you, and strengthened you. I may have been harsh with you but did you ever stop to think that might have been for your own good? I mean honestly, a girl of your age and size would’ve lasted perhaps a day the way you were. And how am I repayed? With a slap to the face and permanent damage to my ship.” He had walked a slow circle around her, his face a perfect portrayal of the betrayed benefactor. “Tell me again how you were the one that was wronged? Oh and I assure you, though it was very nice, the…fuck, as you put it, was hardly my goal” he grinned, stopping to face her.

“Well I’m glad of one thing at least, for your sake. Since the fuck isn’t what you were after, it won’t pain you too much that it won’t happen again,” Sarah returned his grin and lunged, catching the edge of his coat and he spun to avoid her. She cried out as his hook tore through the loose poet’s shirt she wore and caught the flesh of her arm.

“I believe that is point one to me,” his tone was almost too cocky to bear.

“Yeah, you seem to like going first,” she grinned as her quip hit home and lunged again, faking left and slashing up his middle, catching him on the inside of his left arm as he backed away.

“Complaining again, some women can never appreciate what they are given,” he pulled his sword.

“Given and forced to take are two different things,” she pulled her second dagger, adopting a stance similar to fencing.

“You lie!” he lunged at her, their blades clashing loudly as they began to fight in earnest.

The fight was not a long one, consisting mainly of traded blows to the extremities, the most severe being one to Sarah’s thigh, just below the femoral artery. At the end they were left panting, both leaning against a tree, a mixture of blood and sweat dripping from both of them.

“Why are you going easy on me, you could’ve killed me three times at least already,” Sarah said, panting softly, readjusting her torn sleeve for the fifth time.

“I could ask the same of you,” he shot back meeting her eyes.

“What are we doing here?” her voice was a mixture of confusion of fear and she saw it mirrored in some manner in his eyes.

“I thought it was obvious,” he said, bringing up memories of the day before.

“Is that all?” she asked, standing away from the tree and readying her daggers.  
“What else would it be?” he said, the walls slamming back into place behind his eyes.

The fight continued for what seemed like hours, neither side holding back. He would slash her leg and she would get a shot in at his ribs with the blunt side of her blade. Eventually all the weapons became useless and were tossed aside and it devolved into a slug match. Finally Sarah was in her arena, fist fights were her specialty. She had him pinned and panting in less than a minute.

“I win,” she said, her breath coming in heave gasps.

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that love,” he said, heaving with his hips and flipping them. “Now this if familiar,” he grinned, though only for a second as Sarah’s legs came up and latched around his neck, pulling him back flat onto his ass.

“How about this ass hole,” she started to tighten her legs when she felt fire explode in her leg. She let out a scream and felt one of her legs loosen automatically. She looked down to see a hook protruding from her thigh. She felt more than saw its owner scramble away from her, hook still attached to his arm. He must have had a spare. 

“Sorry love, but I can’t let myself get beaten by a girl. I promise I’ll take good care of you though, once you’re back on the ship,” he said, his bravado not quite hiding his genuine fear and what could possibly be remorse.

“You bastard, I’ll kill you myself,” Sarah said, feeling her vision start to cloud. The last thing she saw before unconsciousness took her were his eyes filled with something she couldn’t quite place.


	7. The World Turns Itself Upside Down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little easter egg from the movie Hook in this chapter, I never liked the idea of the mermaids in the 2003 version.

Hook sat outside the door to his cabin, his head resting on his hand while his hook carved small circles in the deck. What had he been thinking, bringing her back here again? He retraced his steps that morning in a vain attempt to organize his train of thought. All that came to mind was that same damn face, the face that had been in his dreams and later on the face of his opponent while she tried to end his life. Had she known she was crying? Had she meant to kill him? The whole situation was foreign to him and it made him feel very ill at ease. He had never had the gift of understanding women. As far as he was concerned there was nothing beyond a good whore that was required for a happy life. So why have this feeling? He stood, turning toward the door where he could hear the faint whimpers of the girl as Smee tended to her. 

He should go in there now and end her, before she had a chance to cause more trouble. He could leave her head on Pan’s island then kill him while he was in shock. Yes, yes that sounded good to him, kill the girl and get rid of two nuisances in the same day, and then he could return to the sea, his only real love, free of any obligations or confusing emotions. But how? He reached for the door but was nearly thrown off his feet as the winds kicked up around the ship. The waves started to rock the ship back and forth and the sky darkened with angry gray and black clouds. He couldn’t help the smile that crossed his face as a cry rose up from the island. Pan must have realized his precious “mother” was missing. What luck!

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Sarah was dreaming again, or was it remembering? She was being held by someone. It was a man, but she couldn’t see his face. He was strong, solid muscle and power, and he was using it to control her. She was moving, being thrown around. There was a yell of pure fury and light flashed in front of her eyes. It was the flash that woke her. She was lying in a bed, a very familiar bed. His smell was everywhere around her and it made her heart sick to remember how she came to be here. That bastard had taken her again! She heard someone moving around and instantly recognized the shuffling steps of Smee and felt a small smile cross her face; at least she wasn’t alone with Him.

“Hello?” she said, her voice slightly hoarse from all the shouting and fighting earlier.

“Oh good, you’re awake. How do you feel?” Smee bustled over to the bed and sat in his old chair that had been set there probably so he could tend her.

“Physically not so bad, though the hook wound in my leg hurts. However I’m afraid that’s where the good news ends. Think you could pry that porthole open?” she smiled at him sadly, hating the desperation in her voice.

“I don’t think that would be a good idea Mr. Smee,” his voice floated around the corner of the bed. She sighed, resolving herself to endure similar treatment as when she was last confined to this room.

“Well then would you be so kind as to open it?” she asked; a smile on her face.

“Why would I do that? I just caught you again,” he was grinning as he came even with the bed. “I have, as a matter of fact, been thinking of ways that you might be useful on my ship, so I can keep a closer eye on you. I imagine your stay will be quite…prolonged this time,” his grin turned into a wolfish smile, all predator and blood.

“Why?” her voice dropped to its normal tone, filled with confusion and anger.

“To torment Pan of course. It seems the loss of you has put him in quite a state,” he gestured to the aforementioned porthole where the sea and sky were merged in one color, blank angry gray. “It seems he thinks you are dead, or that you have abandoned him like his other “mother” did. Either way, I have been blessedly free of his presence since I brought you here. I intend to be free of his presence for quite some time, and for that, I need you,” his voice dropped to something down right indecent at the end of his sentence. He grinned to see that it affected her, even if she chose to hide it.

“He knows better than that. Lucas is still there with them and I’m sure they’ll be back in your overly curly hair in no time. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go for a swim.” She tossed the covers off and bolted for the door. She should’ve known it wouldn’t work. Between her leg and Hook’s speed she was pinned against the wall before she got three steps. 

“Now now. That was rude,” he stroked her face softly, winding his fingers in her hair and twisting. “I won’t tolerate rudeness.” He was pleased at her gasp but didn’t expect the knee to the stomach that followed it. Sarah began to run but found her foot yanked out from under her as Hook recovered. Smee had moved into a small corner and was watching with worried eyes as they wrestled on the floor. Soon Sarah had her legs around Hook’s torso, squeezing his ribs for all she was worth, and he had her in a strangle hold with the arm braced against her neck. 

“I’m not some whore you can push around you bastard, I’ll crush you and take your damn ship if I have to, but I won’t be held here again!” she managed to get a kick in at his side.

“You couldn’t crush a fairy let alone me and I’ll die before I see you captain my ship!” he brought his elbow down on her wound. She cried out and her leg loosened.

“Son of a bitch!” she was up and distanced before Hook could grab her again.

“Language,” he smirked at her and charged, using his brute strength to overcome her seemingly endless flexibility. He got her against the wall, his whole body pinning hers, her legs held up off the ground by his knee, his hook pressed firmly against his throat. “Yield?” he asked, his eyes burning with victory and lust.

“Never” she growled, struggling to get some kind of hold on the floor to get away.

“Now I wouldn’t move like that if I were you,” he said, pressing his hips into her. Her eyes widened and she stilled.

“You bastard, if you even try to touch me, I will make sure that thing never works again,” she looked up at him, her eyed cold as steel and just as deadly.

“Now now, is that any way to talk to your host?” he asked, ending his sentence with a rough kiss. He swore and pulled back, blood trickling down his lip.

“That was a warning,” she said, staring him down, but her head was getting fuzzy and her leg was starting to feel very numb. Her eyes widened as she realized what was going on and looked down to see a small syringe being pulled out of her leg. She had just enough time to register the euphoric feeling of opium before she slid out of consciousness again.

Hook caught her as she sagged against him and carried her to the bed, laying her down gently. He stood, looking down at her. She looked so small when she was sleeping. It was something he had noticed last time as well, but hadn’t bothered to think on it further. He took the time to notice now. She was beautiful in the candlelight. He shook himself free of this thought almost as soon as it had come to his mind; she was his prisoner, a bother and above all a very viable threat. He sighed and winced as his ribs cracked. Damn her, he would not let her by with injuring him; she would pay when she woke.

He settled behind his desk, letting his mind turn to the blackest corners as he contemplated her punishment. He smiled as he began to imagine all the tortures he would put her through. Perhaps he would start now and wake her with a surprise. Her wiggling had excited him and the memory of their time behind the waterfall came unbidden to his mind. Her power and control were something that he’d never had in a woman before. Yes, he would have her now, whether she wanted him or not.

He stood, removing his coat and vest, taking his time as he moved over to the bed, but as he was taking off his shirt, the ship rocked and he heard the telltale sound of snapping rope. The anchor was gone. They were floating free on storm tossed waters with god knows how many rocks and reefs along the shoreline. This was bad. He turned from the bed as the door opened and a man fell in, a sword in his back. He stepped away from the bed, his mind reeling to account for the situation when Sarah shot up off the bed and out the door. He roared, anger and confusion mixing in his blood and setting it afire. He followed her out onto the deck and stopped short at the sight that met him. 

His men were dying left and right. Pan had apparently recruited the Indian fighters and was laying waste to his ship. He had never seen the boy be so savage. He was slashing and stabbing at anything he could find and the look in his eyes was one Hook had only seen on his own face. It made his blood run cold as he thought of the destruction the boy could cause if he wasn’t stopped, and then he saw her. Sarah was running along the deck, holding onto the rigging as the ship moved. She was leaving a trail of blood behind her; the leg wound he’d given her had opened up. Pan saw her just and Hook did and the look on his face was of pure hatred.

“Traitor!” he screeched, turning in the air and speeding toward her, sword at the ready.

“Sarah!” Hook shouted, running toward her, but even as he moved he knew he was too late. She turned just as Pan reached her, his sword sinking into her shoulder. She cried out and stumbled back, her waist hitting the gate to the plank, knocking it open. She fell, Pan still on her and began to grapple with him, pulling the sword from her shoulder and kicking him in the stomach.

“Peter stop! I’m not with them!” she shouted, scooting back along the length of wood, her uninjured arm up in surrender, but Pan was too far gone to care. Hook managed to get to them in time to block the second blow, but the power forced him back against the railing of the ship. He looked back to shout at her to run, but she was gone, the splash a clear indication of what had happened. He chanced a look over the railing and couldn’t see her, damn!

“You die this time!” he shouted, turning back to Pan but the boy had stopped moving. He was looking down at the water like he’d only just realized what it was. Hook stopped mid swing, seeing the look of realization dawn on his face.

“What have I done?” the boy shot into the sky, another cry echoing around him, a signal no doubt as the Indians all jumped ship and began swimming back to the island. The uninjured men got unsteadily to their feet, the seriously injured groaned, the dead lay still and the sea rolled. Hook looked out at his men, his ship, his home and felt his heart ache for the first time in years. Damn that woman, she’d thrown everything out of balance. She’d caused this, it was her fault. She caused his confusion, Pan’s rage, the destruction of his crew and the damage to his ship and his mind. Why had she come? What was she? How, in just a few short weeks, had things gone so wrong? The woman, Sarah, she was gone. She was gone! He had to find her. She’d fallen overboard, with a wounded shoulder and leg, in this tide. She’d drown for sure. He turned, seemingly without thinking and ran, taking a flying dive off the plank. He had to find her. Everything in him screamed that he had to find her, to keep her. Later he would say that he didn’t know what he was thinking, but the truth of the matter is that he wasn’t thinking at all. For once, in all the history of his life, James Hook wasn’t thinking, planning or plotting, he was feeling.

He saw her, floating toward the hull of the ship. He powered through the water, hoping to get to her before she was pulled under the ship. Then he saw the silvery flash of tails in the water. The mermaids! No! They couldn’t have her, not without a fight. He dove under the water, following the sheen of their tails as they moved in on their prey and grabbed one, hauling on her tail for all he was worth. She turned, but it wasn’t the pinched angry face he was expecting. She was beautiful, her hair was golden and hovered around her in the gloom. She looked at him and then back to Sarah, now surrounded by other mermaids and nodded, grabbing a hold of him and kissing him, pushing air into his lungs. He watched as the others did the same to Sarah and began to pull her toward the bottom. He felt his own body moving, and try as he might he was unable to move. He thought, not for the first time as darkness closed around him, how much he hated this place and then he was granted sleep in the form of another mermaid’s kiss.

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Sarah was screaming. The sound seemed to be all around him, echoing in his ears and mind. He sighed, turning over, determined to ignore the dream when the memories of the battle came back to him. His ship! He shot up, looking around. He wasn’t on the Jolly Roger; he wasn’t even on the island, at least not any part of it he’d ever seen before. He was in a small cavern. The stone walls were wet and shined with what looked like millions of small crystals. The sand under him was warm and the air smelled of the sea and the trade winds he knew in his youth. The sound of lapping water made him turn and he saw the mermaids sitting just in the shallows, watching him. He stood, reaching for his sword when he remembered that it was on his belt, on his ship. He sighed, looking to the strange creatures.

“Why are we here?” he asked, slowing down so that he could think properly.

You are damaged. You must heal. She must heal. Balance must be restored. The ship must sail. The voice echoed in his head and he staggered back, closing his eyes against the sudden pressure. When he opened them, the women were gone. What the hell had that meant? He was broken from his thoughts by a pained scream from the other occupant of the cavern. It was Sarah and she was in a bad way. Her shirt was torn in many places, small cuts and bruises were still visible from their previous fight and the stab wound on her should was starting to leak clear fluid. 

He swore, moving to her and settling down, looking her over. Her leg wound was still bleeding, that had to be tended first, then she shoulder, exposure to that much salt water was never good for a deep stab, it would have to be cleaned and dressed and kept dry. He sighed, reaching over to her tattered shirt and ripping it off of her. He marveled for a moment at her chest, remembering the feel of those breasts when they were bare, but only for a moment, and began to tear her shirt into strips.

He tended to her leg first, removing the old bandage and rewrapping it. She must’ve been close to full consciousness because she whimpered when he pulled the knot tight. Next was the shoulder. He was grateful that she wasn’t awake for this part; it was going to be nasty. He cleaned his hook as best he could on his shirt and placed one knee on her chest and rested the other on her forearm to keep her still and began to clean the jagged flesh around the wound, cutting away the small strips that had been torn rather than cut by Pan’s perpetually notched blade. She thrashed, as he’d suspected she would, and cried out for her father of all things, but he didn’t stop, he knew that to stop now would be even more cruel. He pulled the flask from his boot, something he always kept with him for emergencies, and poured the almost clear liquor across the wound. She screamed at this, her eyes flaring open as the pain raced through her. She looked up at him and he saw the pure anger in her eyes. Great, just what he needed, a pissed off, injured, dangerous woman, stuck in a cave with him, this was going to end very poorly.

“Be still woman, you are badly injured. I am trying to help you,” his voice was steely and calm and for once she listened, stilling her body as he continued working. The only betrayal of the pain she felt was the strain visible in her jaw and the almost constant stream of cusswords that she was muttering. Once the wound was clean he allowed her to sit up and bandaged it.

“Where’s my shirt?” she looked over at him and then at the fabric he was wrapping around her shoulder. “Oh, joy,” she sighed, resting her arm in her lap as her shoulder screamed at her.

“What do you remember?” he asked, looking over at her. She looked over at him, clearly ready to start another argument when the memory of the hell that had been his ship came to her. She seemed like she was trying to speak, but no words were coming out and tears began to brim in her eyes again. Hook felt his heart still; it was the face from his dreams. He felt a pang of guilt followed by a fierce need to protect her and before he could register his own actions he had grabbed her and was holding her to his chest tightly. Once his mind caught up with his body he stiffened but the feel of her pressed against him, holding onto him like a frightened child was too good to lose just yet; it satisfied something primal inside him that he’d never been aware of till now. She was crying, it took him a moment to realize it, but her shoulders were shaking almost imperceptibly. He rested his hand on her head and felt her tense. He knew she wouldn’t stay this way for long and sure enough, as soon as she realized what she was doing she threw herself away from him. She landed on her bad shoulder and grunted, swearing some more as she scrambled away from him, clearly afraid he would attack her if given the chance.

“Where are we?” her normal voice had returned and with it his normal irritation. The pleasant warmth of a moment ago was gone and he was back to wanting to kill her.

“I don’t know. The last thing I remember is diving off the ship to get to you before a strange breed of mermaid began dragging us both down toward the sea floor, after that I was knocked out and woke up here.” His voice was completely honest for once and he saw it dawn on her face that she was stuck god only knows where with him and no one knew where to find them.

“So what do we do now?” she looked over at him, her shields of sarcasm and cynicism set firmly in place. As he looked at her, contemplating his answer, the mermaid’s words rose in his mind and he paused. Perhaps there was a way out of this after all, but how to do it. He looked up at her and grinned. 

“Well my dear, we are stuck in a cavern under the sea, for now we rest, later, we’ll play,” his grin widened as her eyes widened a fraction, he reveled in the affect he had over her and moved to the far side of the small oval beach, placing his back to the wall and falling almost instantly into the best and deepest sleep he’d had in weeks.

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Sarah was pissed, and cold, and in pain. She really wanted to hurt someone but was stuck in a cave with Captain Asshat and injured so she settled for thinking very violent thoughts. She could still feel the opium in her system and it made her itch. She wanted more. The feeling of need had come back almost instantly, even though it had been years since she’d last shot up and she could feel her mind screaming for another dose. The cave was too quiet; too still, there was nothing moving, nothing to do to distract herself when she needed it the most. She put her back to the cave and curled her legs up to her chest, wrapping her good arm around them and trying to still her mind. She could feel some kind of withdrawal coming on and she would be damned if she would let that pompous ass see her, he’d probably mock her for being weak.

Thinking of him brought the “hug”, if it could be called that, to her mind. It had been so sudden, so fierce. It had felt so safe, like being in your bed during a storm and she had let her guard down. He hadn’t mocked her, hadn’t even mentioned that it happened. Why would he hold her like that? He hated her as much as she hated him so why comfort her? Why had she felt safe with him? You don’t hug someone you hate, especially not when they have a deadly weapon permanently attached to one of the arms hugging you. What the hell was going on? She’d never been this confused about anyone before, not even her old group made her this crazy and that was saying something.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts, she hurt too much to be trying to puzzle this out and the sand was so warm under her and felt so soft. She would sleep through the withdrawal she was sure, it was nothing compared to a full blown Heroin addiction and she’d already been through that. Maybe things would make more sense when she woke up. She laid down, letting her mind slip under the haze of opium and stretched out her injured limbs. Her shoulder still ached and the bandages around her thigh were a little too tight, but the warmth from the sand started to seep into her muscles and she felt everything in her relax as sleep claimed her.


	8. The Descent Into Hell

Neverland was in utter turmoil. Pan had lost his mind and the Lost Boys were running rampant all over the island and to top it all off the pirates, being without a leader, were acting like empty minded thugs to anything that moved.  
The Indians had been watching the events unfold for the better part of a month. They had eyes and ears all over the island and had seen the changes in the “good” captain as well as the newest Darling. Something about the union had always seems sinister to them, but they had always left the goings on of the rest of the island relatively alone. So they waited and watched, preparing for the worst should it happen, and it had. Princess Tiger Lily, long-time friend and playmate of Pan and the Lost Boys had gone missing. She had been acting strange the past few weeks and now had run off entirely. The elders had organized a search party of their finest warriors to go out and find her but all save one had been slain by Pan and his gang and the lone survivor, a stoic Brave of 20 odd years, was rendered speechless by the barbarism he’d witnessed. The confines of the village were closed off to the outside world almost immediately. 

Now the Neverland, once such a happy and safe place was turning to hell and there seemed to be no one capable of bringing order back. The village healer shook her head at this thought. She never thought she’d miss that bastard of a pirate captain, but she found herself wishing that Captain Hook would return.

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Pan had never felt so free. There were no rules now, no ‘good form” to follow. He could slay as many pirates as he wished without having to worry about that hook handed old codfish chiding him on fair play and the rules of a duel. It was wonderful and yet some small part of him cowered from his new found freedom. There was always a small voice in the back of his head, scolding him like Wendy had done, like Sarah had, telling him that what he was doing was wrong. Whenever this voice got to loud he would lose the ability to fly and have a terrible pain in his head, like a knife was trying to dig its way out. It would go away soon enough and thankfully wasn’t happening as much anymore, but it was enough to give him pause sometimes.

It was one of these rare moments that had saved the life of his favorite Indian princess. He had been coming in for the kill, not realizing it was Tiger Lily when the voice screamed so loud in his mind that he fell straight to the forest floor with a thump. The sound startled the young princess and made her turn, hungry eyes fixing on the boy with a mixture of fear and glee. They’d fought for hours. After the battle both parties stared the other down for a moment before the approach of pirates pulled them apart.

It caused strange feelings to push their way through him when he thought of it. He had only had feelings with Wendy, it was one of the reasons he refused to think of her. So why should he have them now? Why Tiger Lily? She had never made him feel anything before. He shook himself and continued his rounds of the Island. The Lost Boys were getting restless for another kill and his new fairy friend was getting rather insistent.

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Tinkerbell was pissed. It wouldn’t suffice to say angry or even furious, she was downright pissed. She had been trapped, again, stuck in another cage by the very boy she’d grown to love. Peter Pan, her boy, the boy that she’d led to Neverland and given a home had shoved her in a cage to go play with another fairy. But he wasn’t a fairy, this new comer, he was evil. Tink knew that she hadn’t always been what one could term as “good”, she could be downright nasty sometimes, but she’d never been evil. This…thing made her skin crawl and her soul, small as it was, seemed to shrink from him and his deceptively handsome face. None of the fairies knew where he’d come from, he’d simply appeared one day and attached himself to Peter like a parasite. He’d whispered things to the boy while Sarah was out. He made him change, made him dark. Tink had seen his light dimming before her very eyes and then he’d just gone crazy. He had lifted her bodily off her favorite leaf nest and shoved her into a small wicker cage and locked the door with a small iron padlock and then just flown off. He hadn’t been back for days and Tink found herself worrying for him. She had to get out…but how?

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Smee was in trouble. Not the normal kind of trouble where the Lost Boys come for a fight and a few blows are traded and everyone goes home scratched up but happy. No, this was real trouble, the life ending kind where if you breathe at the wrong moment, you die. He was the only pirate left on the ship. All the others had gone to the island under the pretense of searching for the captain, but they were really going to do what all pirates do best and Smee wasn’t going to have any of it. He had signed on for riches and the thrill of the open sea. He knew killing would be involved, but he would have no part of rape or the murder of children, so he stayed, he hid, something he’d always been good at doing. 

The trouble all started when the anchor snapped. It was like that anchor was the only thing keeping the whole island sane. Pan had attacked almost directly after, or maybe it was before, and then poor Sarah had gone overboard and Hook, the damned fool, had followed her. The last he’d seen of them was their bodies disappearing under the water, dragged down by the most beautiful mermaids he’d ever laid eyes on. After that it was all a jumble, chaos broke out on the ship and the island both. The ocean visibly darkened and the clouds turned black, blocking the sun almost entirely. The island had been in a state of perpetual twilight for days now. The ship rolled on the water, great waves lapping over the rails and leaking into every crack, it was hell on earth. What had caused it, where had this all started? Who was responsible for bringing evil to Neverland?

Smee shook himself at that thought. He started to chastise himself for such fancies, but then he realized that it was the perfect word for what had happened. Neverland had become dark and truly deadly. It had been poisoned by an evil far too adult to have come from Pan. Then it hit him, the woman; that blasted Darling and her strange maturity. Of course it was her, it had to be. She was a Darling, the true creators of this world, or at least what it had become once Wendy left. She must have changed things somehow.

He sighed, no use thinking about it now, what good will knowing the cause do if it can’t be changed and so he drank, heavily and deep of a bottle of Muskat he’d laid aside to celebrate the captain’s birthday. He didn’t even realize he was crying until the tears splashed onto the bottle and then all he could do was sob silently into the thread bare blanket over his shoulders, praying to whatever god would listen that he not be found. A crow from the island was his answer and he scurried back below decks in the gloom of the old storage deck and waited for death to find him.

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Sarah was dreaming, or at least she thought she was dreaming. It’s hard to tell with dreams; some of them just seem so real. She was back in Chicago, the bad side of town and Toby was there with her. This is the one fact that led her to believe she was dreaming. Tobias Hunter had been the sole reason she fell as far as she did in her adolescence. He had been the perfect guy. Strong, mostly silent, hot as hell in July and single, not to mention a bad boy with a penchant for leather coats, violence and a smoking habit that would give most cowboys reason to pause. In short, he was perfect, or at least she thought he was.

They hadn’t been together long when the abuse started. He wanted a druggy slave to be his bitch and she wasn’t living up to his expectations, so he got her hooked on heroin and would torture her for hours with it, always giving her just enough to make her jumpy and keeping the rest back for when she “obeyed” him. It was a dark time in Sarah’s life. She had done things that made her feel shameful to this day. She had become a whore, and a damn good one too. She had been violated in more ways than she could count and had done it all for a damn needle. And there was Tobias, the whole time, laughing at her, smiling to her face and stabbing her in the back, it was hell, but you know what they say about the “Hotel California”, you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave. She didn’t realize how true those words were until she tried.

Her father had come to rescue her, she was 20 at the time. He had pulled her, kicking and screaming, back into the light of day and made her see for herself what she had become. The sight almost killed her. She broke down entirely for the first time in her life and ran, as far and as fast as she could from the life that had tried to steal her soul. Rehab was another fresh hell for her, withdrawal plus a shrink trying to help her “understand” her “issues”. She tried to explain multiple times that her “issue” was that she’d fallen in love with the wrong man and been too stoned to leave till her father came for her, but that was too simple so she just played along with the “I have daddy issues” until the stuff was well and truly out of her system. They released her back to her Father’s care and she was immediately enrolled into a top notch school. It was so freeing to be alone, not to have someone’s expectations to live up, except her own. For two whole years she got to be a complete person, whole and true unto herself and beholden to no one, and then Tobias showed up, needle in hand.

All he had to do was beckon and it was like the past two years hadn’t happened. She was right back where she started and found herself not caring. So what if she was a whore, it was easy money and she was good at it. So what if she was a drug addict, she didn’t have any kids or anything so why couldn’t she do what she wanted with her body. So what if her boyfriend’s friends all used her like a sex doll, she liked sex and most of them were pretty hot, at least they all used condoms. At least…that’s what Tobias said. She would’ve stayed there forever if not for the little miracle that her brother brought to her one day.

Wendy Sarah Gwendolyn Darling. The most perfect baby in the world. She cried the first time she saw her and fell into Jenny’s lap to be closer to her. Her brother had to take the baby because Sarah was too high to control herself. He issued an ultimatum, get clean and sober, or never see Wendy again. It broke her heart to hear those words. She cried for days after they left, screaming for the little ball of light and love to come back to her, but it was all for nothing and she knew it. Then, one rainy day in March, it happened, she snapped.

Tobias was being his usual abusive self, pushing her to her limits and then watching her tumble ass of ankles down a spiral she couldn’t get back up and laughing at her the whole way. Today it was with her fix. He wouldn’t let her have it. She had begged, played with all his friends, given him all her money and most of her jewelry and still he held the needle just out of her reach. She couldn’t take it anymore. There was a knife on the counter. She couldn’t remember what happened next, all that would come back to her was the taunting of all his little passé, all the snorts of derision and shouts of “You wouldn’t” and then the screaming starts. It’s deafeningly loud and full of all the pain and anger a human body can hold. She never did find out if it was her, or the men she killed, but soon enough she was in a rehab/psychiatric center on charges of murder. It took her 2 years to get out. Now here she stood, 24 years old with nothing to show for her life but the most wonderful 2 year old niece anyone could ask for so she did the only thing she knew how to do, she started writing.

“Wake up woman!”

She was brought rudely back to consciousness by cold water. Someone was dead.

“What the hell!” she stood, wiping her eyes and staring down the pirate in front of her. Damn that Hook and his lack of emotion. 

“You were screaming and wouldn’t wake up,” his tone was irritated but there was an undercurrent of almost panic.

“So you douse me with freezing cold water? In a cave? Do you want me to die?” she glared at him, her eyes calling him every name in the book.

“Well I would certainly sleep better without a hysterical woman screaming all the time,” he had regained his composure and was back to smirking superiorly at her. It reminded her of her dream and the man who’d single handedly almost ruined her life.

“I have a name, it’s Sarah, it’s not hard to say and I would appreciate it if you started using it. I am sick of being called “woman”.” She snarled at him, stepping closer.

“And what will you do if I don’t want to use that name, Woman?” his smirk widened, his eyes getting steely and dangerous.

“Well, for starters, I’ll grab your nuts and squeeze them until your eyes pop out and then I’ll open your damn throat and play xylophone music on your spine.” She went to grab her knife just as he reached for his gun and they both looked down to find that all their weapons were gone.

“Damn it! My dad gave me that knife.” She turned from her previous source of irritation to address the new one that had reared its head in challenge. Hook watched as she knelt down, searching through the sand on the cave floor, like it would have buried itself in her sleep.

“I believe you will find that the mermaids have taken our weapons. They appear to want us to get along,” he spoke slowly, mimicking the tone one would use with a child. He watched as her skin reddened.

“You seem to be laboring under the misapprehension that I can’t kill you without my knives,” she turned to him.

“You seem to be laboring under the misapprehension that I won’t stop you if you try,” he loved her shock as he used her own words against her. She paused for a second and kicked him square in the stomach, retreating to the back of the cave and perching on a small outcropping of rock. Hook rose with a snarl and turned to face her. He saw her, perched jauntily on the rocks and then looked down. The stone was smoking. 

“Sarah, I know you won’t believe me but you need to get down from there right now.” His voice had turned from the playful malevolence he usually employed in their skirmishes to something far more serious and almost fearful.

“Yeah right, like that’s gonna happen,” she smirked and put her hand down to balance herself and drew it back with a yelp. The stone was scalding hot, and the soles of her boots were beginning to heat up as well. Just as she was about to jump down, cracks in the rock began to glow red hot and steam enveloped her, knocking her to the ground, her skin a bright, angry red. She was in a world of pain but knew she had to move if she was going to survive.   
She groped on the sand for a hand hold, her thighs too scorched to support her at the moment and felt a hand grab her, pulling her away as the rock began to crack and bubble.

The cave became a furnace and Hook pulled her against him at the far wall. They wouldn’t survive long in here, but there was no way out. Or so they thought. Just as the magma began to peak through the furrows and fissures in the rock, the wall behind them gave way and deposited them squarely on their asses in some kind of hallway. It was just as hot here as it had been in the other room, but the temperature seemed stable enough. Sarah was the first on her feet and she was already scanning the hall when Hook managed to get to his feet.

“What is this place?” she put a hand against the rock and was relieved to find it as a normal temperature. 

“Good God. It is real.” Hook’s voice was a mixture of fear and amazement as his eyes wondered the hall and settled on the faint light glowing just around the corner.

“What is? What’s real?” her eyes followed his to the yellowish glow coming from around the corner.

“I have always heard tales of this place but I never believed it was here until now.” Hook turned to her, gravely serious. “We are in Hell, or as close to Hell as can be in this place. The world we are about to enter is filled with all the lost dreams and broken spirits of the youth that have called Neverland home. When a child leaves here to grow up, a part of them stays behind and is trapped here. That childish fear of growing up is what is locked at the heart of Neverland Island and we are about to encounter the souls of children who have been forced to grow up, brace yourself Sarah, this will not be pleasant.” He turned, his hand moving to his empty holster and sheath.


	9. Losing The Way, Finding The Way

“Hell…we’re in hell,” the sound of her voice seemed bizarrely loud in the hallway. She looked around her, incredulity apparent on her face. “It looks a lot like a volcanic tube to me.”

“How pedestrian. Have you not noticed that things on this island are not what they appear to be?” Hook looked back at her, shedding his coat. “A word of advice, don’t trust anything you see or hear,” he turned, walking slowly up the passage, his footsteps silent in the heavy air. Sarah opened her mouth to give a scathing reply but was silenced when a scream echoed back to them through the passage. The sound was heart-breaking. It was like a child had found both their parents and the beloved family pet all dead in the dark. Sarah felt her whole body pulled toward the sound, an ache surfacing in her chest to comfort and protect the creature that had made that sound. It wasn’t until Hook grabbed her arm that she realized she’d been moving.

“I warned you once already, next time I’ll just let you go,” his voice was hard, clearly the scream had gotten to him as well.

“What the hell was that?!” She was shaking as she looked around, half expecting to find some kind of monster coming around the corner. Hook just shook his head, signaling for her to be silent as he crept forward. She followed close behind him, keeping one hand on the rocky wall of the passage lest she have to hold herself back from another scream. They rounded the corner slowly and were greeted by a horrific sight. They stood at one of several passages out of a massive cavern, the walls glowing red hot from the pool of liquid magma that seemed to be continually swirling below them. There were several small islands of rock jutting out from the walls of the cavern, connected by walkways and pillars. The truly horrific thing was what was on the islands. 

Imagine if you will a newborn, small plump and rosy. Now imagine that it hasn’t been fed in a month, see the sunken cheeks, hollow eyes, gaps and exposed ribs. This was the sight that met Sarah as she turned into the cavern. Thousands of these half dead, starved, horrifying creatures clung, climbed and crawled on the red hot rock of the cavern. Occasionally one would lose its footing and fall, crashing onto a lower island or digging its claw like fingers into whatever rock it could reach to avoid splashing into the boiling magma below them. She would have screamed if she had a voice to do so, but her breath seemed stolen by the sight that continued to unfold, regardless of how many times she blinked. If Hook noticed her distress he didn’t seem to care. Perhaps he too was absorbed by the horror before them, but she wished he would at least lead her away.

After what seemed like an eternity, the aforementioned pirate seemed to shake himself from his reverie and turned to her, pulling her roughly down an alternate tunnel that seemed to spring up out of nowhere. Neither of them knew where it would lead, though the ever pompous pirate captain would die before he admitted it and so they just walked, moving to banish the memory of what they’d seen. The path seemed to wind on and on forever, no turns or branches, just one single sweltering path that was leading them down, if the slope of the floor was anything to go off of. Perhaps it was fate that they find this place, just when they were both in their own personal hells, perhaps it was a coincidence and the strange message the mermaid had left for Hook was just trickery. Either way, they couldn’t stop now; they had nowhere to return to and wouldn’t go back even if they did, they knew there was nothing left for them there. So they trudged on, the feeling of dread building as they moved deeper and deeper into the heart of Neverland.

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Elsewhere in Neverland, Tinkerbell was having a problem. She could remember being mad, it still made her wings tingle, but she couldn’t remember why. What had made her so furious that she had actually struck her boy? Why was she no longer in the cage he had taken to keeping her in? Who was this strange pixie leaning over her? Why was he smiling like that?

“Hello Tinkerbell. Please don’t struggle, you’ll tear those beautiful wings and that would be a shame.” His voice was slick, like oil on water and it made her skin shiver. She didn’t like this man, he looked like a fairy, but he didn’t feel like one. He was dark, wrong; evil and he intended something ill for her boy.

“Who are you? Why have you tied me down? Where is my boy?” This last question was practically shouted. She was tired of all the new things in her world and she would have answers if she had to tear Neverland down around all their ears.

“My my, aren’t we an impatient little sprite. I admire that in a woman. As for who I am, you may call me Toby. I tied you down because you were insisting on trying to bite me and as for Peter; he is out having a very good time indeed with his little friend Tiger Lily if I am not very much mistaken. Any other things you would like to know?” He had been making slow turns around her while he had spoken and landed gently to face her, leaning in far too close for Tink’s comfort.

“How did an evil thing like you get into Neverland?” She didn’t see the slap coming and it stung far more than she thought it would. Maybe that was why Peter had run away from her. She would certainly never slap anyone again. She looked at him, her eyes glaring defiance as he glowered down at her. She would not be menaced by so meager a pixie, not even if he slapped her again. She would get out of this and find her boy and right whatever had gone wrong with her home and banish this prideful ass while she was at it.

“I apologize for striking you my dear; perhaps we should avoid that word in the future. It does not bring out the best of my character.” He straightened his small tie, a style she’d never seen before and began his circling again. “As for where I came from, that’s easy. I came with Sarah, though I doubt she was even aware of my presence at the time. I’m sure you’ve guessed by now, I’m no fairy. I am not native to this island and quite frankly I find it tedious and child-like. I have been attempting to correct that, make it more like what I am used to, but this is a most stubborn place. Perhaps you could help me?” he turned toward her again, flashing a smile that seemed to bypass her brain and shoot straight down her spine. This was an entirely new feeling for the little fae and it put her quite out of sorts.

“I don’t know what you are talking about, but if it is help you want, you can find another fairy. I won’t help you destroy our home!” She began to struggle again, the evil aura of this strange creature almost physical in how overbearing it seemed. She needed to be free, to get away, to find Peter and run before it was too late. Her bonds proved too tight and she began to feel the skin that held her wings in place begin to tear. She knew she would bleed from that injury, but she couldn’t bring herself to still. She had to be free from this oppressive air.

“Please, lady, be still before you do yourself permanent injury. Wings, once torn, can never be mended again. Isn’t that true?” He smiled at her, almost like the knowledge of her discomfort pleased him and she was reminded of all the cats she’d seen hunting while in Wendy’s world. They too had that predatory gleam in their eyes, like they were truly enjoying the power they had over the smaller things.

“Release me!” Her voice was shrill and she knew that she sounded hysterical. There was something wrong. Something bad was about to happen and she had to be free. She had to get away before it was too late. She stretched and pulled, struggled and strained, but no luck. The only thing that she earned for her trouble was a further tear of the skin around her wings and then blackness as Toby’s hands covered her eyes. The feelings that followed were intense, almost too intense to bear and she felt her small heart begin to race. She knew that she was in trouble when her body began to tingle; she knew it shouldn’t be doing that. Next to come was the euphoria. It blocked out everything else and brought up image after image of bare fairy chests and writhing flower petals. She didn’t care anymore that Toby made her feel terrible to be around. She no longer needed to find her boy. All she cared about was the euphoric feeling coursing through her and how she could keep it going. She didn’t even notice she was free until it wore off.

The hole it left in its place was painful to the point of immobility. She had to find a way to make it stop. Her dreams, if that was what they were, came back to her with a force and she found herself moving toward the fairy village before she could even think. She had to find the man from her dreams, the young fae male that would bring that feeling back. She was in such a hurry that she didn’t even stop to preen, as was her ritual. If she had, she would’ve seen the black that now permeated every fiber of her skin and wings. She would have seen the red, not green, of the leaves she wore. She had become darker, but she didn’t look, so she didn’t see, and she continued on her journey, unaware of the change she was bringing in her wake.

Line Break

“Good God, does this damned thing ever end?” Her voice sounded harsh in the silence of the tunnel but she couldn’t stand the silence anymore.

“I couldn’t say. No one has ever been down here, at least not that has come back alive.” Hook turned to her, slowing his pace as he saw her clearly labored movements. “You are tired; we’ll rest here for a moment.” He stopped, leaning against the slightly too hot wall of the passage. Sarah was about to object but another muscle spasm from her still injured leg was enough to make her sink gratefully to the floor. “I need to examine your wounds. The bandages need changing.” Hook pushed himself away from the wall and approached her, moving slowly in case she decided to do something stupid like fight him.

“Well you already killed my shirt so I say yours goes next. It’s only fair.” She looked up at him, trying to mask the exhaustion on her face with her usual sarcasm. It clearly wasn’t working as Hook still looked troubled, but at least she had tried.

“Yes, very funny, now hold still, this is going to hurt.” He knelt down next to her, threading his hook under the grimy shirt fabric and ripping outward, severing it mostly cleanly. Sarah couldn’t help the shout that accompanied this action, though to her benefit she did try and she found herself looking away in embarrassment. She was expecting a quip or barb about her weakness, but all she got was a hand pressed softly to the wound while the hook ripped through the bandages around her thigh.

“Son of a bitch! Ow!” Her shout was loud in the narrow tunnel. Hook slammed his hand over her mouth, his eyes moving from side to side warily.

“Not another word Woman, unless you want to have every demon is this Hell down on us.” His eyes were dead serious and for once she could believe that he was saying it for her benefit as well as his. She nodded against his hand and let her eyes wander down to her leg wound. She wished she hadn’t. It was bruised and just beginning to scab over. There was white residue on the skin, signs that it either was or at least had been infected and that made her heart race. Her mother’s side of the family had a bad history of dying from strange things and Sepsis would be just what she needed to complete her wonderful little trip. Hook followed her eyes and seemed to read her thoughts as he moved his hand and applied gentle pressure around the wound. All that came out was a little clear liquid and a fair amount of blood. 

Sarah sighed, leaning her head back against the wall of the passage, at least it wasn’t infected. She closed her eyes, exhaustion settling on her like a blanket and tried to ignore the pain radiating through her. She let her mind wander over the past day, at least she assumed it was a day, and all that had happened. Her mind kept flashing to Pan stabbing her and seeing the look of rage and pain on Hook’s face. Why had it affected him so much? He was ready to kill her himself moments before but when she went over the plank, his whole demeanor had changed and he had followed her into this hell. Why had this happened? What did it all mean?

The sound of fabric shifting pulled her out of her thoughts. She opened her eyes and saw Hook, shirtless, his back to her, muscles bulging as he tore through the dense fabric of his shirt. Damn that man was fine. She didn’t feel any shame in admitting it now. He was a good looking man and she had enjoyed the time they shared behind that waterfall. It seemed like forever ago now, like a whole other life and suddenly she couldn’t remember why she’d been fighting her attraction so hard. It seemed so stupid to her now. Why should she fight her feelings? It wasn’t like she was asking him to marry her or anything, just some very good sex with a very good looking man.

Hook chose that moment to turn around. He looked over her, noticing the flush to her skin. He was about to write it off as heat but then he saw her eyes. They were hungry, dark, dilated. She was practically panting and it made her chest heave in a way that should be illegal, especially considering the bizarre underclothes she wore. The two thin cups of fabric did nothing to hide the peaks of her nipples as they hardened and the straps were inching down her shoulders with every breath. Her hair, chocolate brown in this light, was mussed and curled around her face and shoulders and it all served to highlight one thing. She was perfect. She was his warrior woman. He found himself wandering why he had fought his feelings for her before. 

She stood at almost the same moment as he began to move and they met in the middle of the passageway in a fierce kiss. Her arms were wrapped around his neck tightly and she was pulling him down against her face. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her against him, pressing the silken fabric of her bra against his bare chest. It made his skin tingle wherever it touched and he felt the fire in his veins pulse with every breath. Gods how he wanted her!

She pushed him away, stripping away her bra with two flicks of her wrist and shoving her pants, tight doeskin, to the floor. He was pleased to see that she wasn’t wearing anything under them and immediately divested himself of his breeches as well. Her eyes widened at the sight of him and she lunged at him, pushing him to the ground as her lips connected with his. She felt like she was on fire and the only thing that could save her was having him inside her again.

They wrestled on the floor, kissing and biting and scratching as they fought for dominance but it was Hook who won out. He shoved her hard against the ground and pinned her there with his weight, his length pushed up against her leg. She began to struggle, rubbing against him in a delicious way that made him growl and lean in for another kiss. He began to trail fiery kisses down across her neck, biting down hard whenever she began to struggle and thrilled at the mewls and gasps he pulled out of her. He let his hand wander down over her stomach, feeling the peach fuzz softness of the skin and the curls that rested against it. He pressed down, running a finger slowly up her slit and bit down on one of those delicious pink nipples hard as she bucked up against him.

“Oh god! James!” Her voice was breathy as she writhed under his finger. Gods above, the man was undoing her with just one finger. She had to have him. She tried to move against him, but a few flicks of his finger and a suck of her nipple was all it took to send her over the edge and into bliss.

“Do you want me?” His voice was husky in her ear, his bristle scratchy on her neck.

“Yes, oh please Yes James,” she begged, her hips grinding against air in an attempt to relieve the pressure that was already building again. That was all the answer he needed and before either of them could say another word, he was buried to the hilt inside her and her heat and tightness was almost enough to undue him entirely. He dug his hook into the rock by her head and stilled for a moment, determined to make this last. He didn’t know when he would get her again and he would be damned if he let it go by too quick.

Sarah bucked up against him, whimpering as he began to slowly thrust inside her. It was the most exquisite torture she’d even been through and it was like her whole being was centered on that one spot in the pit of her belly that was coiling tighter and tighter. She wanted to beg for him to go faster, harder, to give her the animal she’d had last time, she knew that this was different. This was something more than sex. She opened her eyes and looked up at him, their eyes locking as he moved over her slowly.

The intensity of his eyes was enough to undo her and she found herself arching up to feel his skin on hers as her walls tighten around him. This seemed to be the sign he was waiting for because the moment she began to loosen again he began to thrust hard, his hips moving in sharp jabs as he invaded her. It was beyond ecstasy for them both. He could feel her whole body jump with every thrust and he couldn’t help but watch as her face contorted with pleasure and when her eyes flew open, mouth falling open in a silent moan, walls tightening around him, he came undone. He felt like something deep inside him was being pulled out, tied into the woman that was writhing underneath him. He felt a moment of complete bliss followed by abject fear as she pulled him down and sealed their pairing with a searing kiss.

Once again, they couldn’t see the light that surrounded them as they kissed, joined in every way possible. They didn’t hear the cry of fury, miles away on the surface as the fairy Toby dropped from the sky. They didn’t see Pan and Tiger Lily spring apart, both blushing at the things they’d just been doing. They didn’t see the sea calm and the clouds begin to clear. All they saw was each other. All they felt was each other and finally they understood. All they wanted was each other.


	10. Dreams And An Interlude

Sarah was dreaming. 

She felt like she was floating, held aloft by a strong current of air that had no apparent source. She became aware of the sensation of falling, though it didn’t feel like she was moving very fast. She was surrounded by gray clouds that left ashy trails against her skin as she moved through them. It was this that brought the realization that it was getting difficult for her to breathe. She began to cough as she broke through the ash clouds and felt a scream catch in her throat. She was above Neverland. The only way she could tell, for the landscape had changed entirely, was from the ship moored just off the coast.

She felt herself begin to sob as she watched a blanket of lava engulf one whole side of the island, inch by inch, burning through the ash covered forest, devouring the trees she had grown to love. She expected to see a flurry of golden sparkles but there were none. Instead there were only screams as animals and fairies alike were swallowed by the white hot liquid. The other side of the island looked like a warzone. There were huge divets and furrows blasted out of the mountain side and surrounding forest land. Most of the tree growth on that side had either burned down or was currently being swept away by a vicious landslide. She looked down to the coast, praying to see at least some form of life but there was none. No Peter, no Lucas or Lost Boys, even the Indians had been consumed by the savage onslaught of nature.

This sparked a new kind of fear in her. The pirates…what had happened to them? Were they safe on their ship? Was Hook alive? And poor Mr. Smee, so timid and kind, was he still alive? She had to know. She turned, or tried to turn, toward the ship and facing down. Perhaps she could steer herself toward the rather small deck of the Jolly Roger. Whatever was holding her aloft seemed to be in a cooperative mood and soon she found herself hovering next to the railing of the battered ship. This time, the scream made it out.

Everything was in shambles. There was rigging all along the blackened wood of the deck and all the sails were draped across the masts, giving them the look of ghosts. There were bodies everywhere, some burned, some crushed by volcanic rock, if the debris was anything to go off of. But some appeared completely untouched. It was as if the horror of what they had seen had robbed them of their will to live. She touched down on the deck without realizing she had moved any closer and walked to one of the bodies. She knew who it was without looking, the red cap and white hair was enough to let her know that her, for all intents and purposes, father, had gone to meet his maker.  
She knelt beside him, shaking and sobbing, and saw that he had been stabbed. Not run through, as if by a sword, but stabbed, right in the belly. The wound looked eerily familiar, she knew its cause. Hook had done this. The mad pirate captain had done this to his crew. But why? What was the reasoning? Hook never did anything that wasn’t part of a larger plan, usually one to kill Pan admittedly, but still, he had a cold logic and form that he lived by. This went against it entirely.

She sat down, her leggings soaking up what little liquid blood was left on the deck and allowed herself a moment to mourn. She knew she didn’t have long, something was coming though she couldn’t put a name to it, and she didn’t want to be caught unarmed and unprepared when it did. She pulled Smee’s head into her lap and gently closed her eyes. His face still held a look of terror and sadness, but it looked less ghastly with his eyes closed. She cradled his head to her chest for a moment and cried, letting down all the barriers she had built against the pain of her life. She let all the disappointment and anger she had felt since coming out of rehab spill out of her eyes, soaking into the shirt of a dead man. Slowly, and painfully, she bared her soul to the dead around her, cleansing it in their blood and pain.

A sound woke her from her saddened reverie and brought her attention to the Captain’s Quarters. The door was opening. She was prepared for practically anything, she had seen Hook at some fairly bad times, but she wasn’t ready for this. It wasn’t Hook. It looked like him, dressed like him, even had his same cold blue eyes, but something wasn’t right. It was the smile, Hook never smiled. He smirked and grinned, grimaced and frowned, but never an outright smile like what was plastered on the face of the man standing above her.

There were no words exchanged, no banter or quips. He charged her and she fired the pistol she had pulled from Smee’s holster. The bullet buried itself deep into the chest of the charging madman and brought him up short. Sarah watched as he looked down to the now bleeding hole in his chest. She expected him to say something, or to fall, but not the laugh that bubbled up his throat. It sounded subhuman, like a hyena, all high pitched and uncontrolled. She watched as a steady flow of blood ran down his lip and began to drip onto the already stained boards of the deck. His eyes refocused on her and he began to move again, running straight for her, hook raised and ready to tear at whatever part of her it got to first.

She began to back crawl away from him, pulling off something like a crab walk to get over the bodies. The maneuver worked right up until her palm landed on the sharp edge of a sword. She gave a shout and fell, narrowly missing the rest of the blade and held her injured hand to her chest. She didn’t have time to react, she couldn’t get the sword’s hilt loose from it’s now deceased owner and he was moving too fast. All she could do was scream as the hook came down at her heart.

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Hook was dreaming.

He was in his quarters, but it looked wrong. The lighting was too red. He liked his room to have a golden glow, anything too bright hurt his eyes, but it had never been this copperish before. It was also too quiet. His crew was never this well behaved. It put him on edge immediately. He stood from his desk, laying aside the map he had apparently been looking over. It was a map of Neverland and it was covered almost entirely in red X marks. What did the marks mean? What was he planning? Why couldn’t he remember?

His thoughts were shattered by a thunderous booming. It came from the island. The red light intensified to an almost painful level and he found his feet carrying him to the port hole above his bed. The mountain was exploding. He watched as rocks the size of his ship began to rain down on the island. They were red hot and glowing, instantly putting to fire anything they touched. He watched as several ship sized boulders bounced down one side of the island, leaving giant furrows and divets in the forest, catching all the trees ablaze as they rolled down to the beach. He watched as the sand under them became scorched and glassy, the heat crystallizing the sand as the stones slid toward the water.

The steam that rose from them gave the whole scene a ghastly ghost-like quality that sent shivers down his body. He felt a fear he couldn’t place. It wasn’t danger, he knew his ship would be damaged but they would be spared the majority of the destruction. It was something else, a menace that was closing in on him. It had something to do with the volcano, he knew that much. He had been here for a time longer than the count of years and never once had that mountain so much as rumbled. He had thought it long since dead, so why now? Why was it suddenly so destructively active?

His mind raced as he went over all of the events in the past two months. Sarah had arrived, bringing change and chaos in her wake. She had changed the entire island and those on it. Pan had changed, attacking them all. Perhaps the eruption was just the latest in a string of changes that Sarah had inflicted on all of them. Why had she come? Why hadn’t she died on that beach? What pulled her here? Why hadn’t she left like all the other Darling women that had visited Neverland’s shore? Damn her and her infernal influence! He should have ended her life when he had the chance. It would’ve been so easy to simply slit her throat as she lay unconscious on his bed.

That thought brought him up short. He was many things, but he was not a man to slaughter an innocent woman in her sleep. Where had that thought come from? He shuddered again, turning without thought to see that a man, no, a fairy was standing behind him. It was the largest of its kind he had ever seen. It was the size of a man and pitch black. The only distinguishable features on the thing were its eyes and the mad, white toothed smile it was directing at him. He pulled his pistol from its holster but never got the chance to shoot as the creature, for it was no fairy, plunged its hand into his chest.

He watched, helpless, as the creature slowly melded with his own body and screamed in futile frustration as he felt it billow into his mind as well. He fought like a hellion to remain in control of himself, but knew that it was fruitless as his hand slowly replaced the pistol. He was a prisoner in his own mind, trapped by a creature as black as the deepest pit of Hell. He now knew what had been changing everything. It wasn’t Sarah, it was this thing. This demon, Tobias, was a figment of a past lover that she had buried in her mind. Somehow, perhaps in the travelling or her near death on the beach, he had been released and had been working in some form or another on the entire island. It was he that was responsible for the eruption of the mountain.

He had been trapped under the island, in the caverns below the mountain where the dreams of children slowly rot, and he had grown strong from them. He had fed on those poor deformed little creatures, dangled them over the quiet fire at the base of the mountain until they screamed and absorbed their fear into a kind of power. It had made him strong, the despair of those piteous babes, forgotten by all save the most evil of creatures, and now he had come in full to Neverland. He would remake it, twist it into a hellish nightmare that would swallow the souls of the children that entered into its boundaries.

Hook found himself cringing away from this creature’s intrusive mind. He knew he should fight, that Tobias was planning terrible things with his body, but he couldn’t fight it any longer. He felt permanently stained by just the touch of this creature’s mind. So he turned away from it. He retreated back into a place in his mind that he knew he would be safe. It sickened him to do it, but for the first time, Hook ran from an enemy. He ran and he hid in the past, in happy memories that this vile thing could never touch. He could still see, could still perceive what was happening, what “he” was doing, but here it was not so raw, not so real. Here, he was a boy again, safe in his mother’s arms as his father taught him of honor and good form and how to treat a lady. 

He watched, unbelieving as stones the size of melons fell upon his ship. They tore his sails and smashed through his decking. He watched as his men were crushed and burned in an attempt to save the vessel that had consumed their lives. He watched as they called out to him for orders, for aid and he did nothing. He watched as he went through the scattered bodies, ending the lives of those that had been unlucky enough to survive. He wept as he saw his hook disappear into the body of his first mate. He saw the look of sadness and fear on the old man’s face as he questioned his captain. His eyes did not ask “why”, they merely said “what have I done?”. Even in death, Smee was loyal. He had chosen to believe that his death was because of a short coming on his part instead of the clear lunacy of his captain.

Hook felt his heart constrict as the old man fell down dead. His body seemed so small now, so old and feeble. Where once there was the strongest man he ever knew, capable of drinking the whole crew under the table and still fight, now there was just an old man, broken by a hard life the Hook himself had been partially responsible for. Why had he always been so cruel to the old man? Perhaps it was because of his father, all the pressure that he had felt to do well and excel in the Navy. Had he truly hated the man for it? Had he perhaps taken that out on Smee?

He was shaken from his thoughts by the sound of a door closing. He was back in his quarters now, though he did not remember his body moving. He sat in his chair, the muscles of his face straining to erase the smile from his lips. It was useless, this creature inside of him had total control now and all he could do was watch and wait for an opportunity. It came sooner than he thought.

His body did nothing for a while, merely faced the porthole so that the destruction of the island could be seen but then he rose from the chair and, after selecting the most wicked hook he owned, exited his quarters. Sarah was on the deck, holding Smee and sobbing into his beard. The sound was heart breaking to him, but more so the thought that she was going to die and there was nothing he could do about it. He railed against the creature’s control, trying every trick he knew to gain control even long enough to warn her off of trusting him. But his girl was smart, she knew him, better perhaps than he knew himself, and she knew he wasn’t right. She had been expecting this. He felt himself begin to charge her but was stopped in his tracks as she shot him point blank in the chest. She missed the heart, perhaps that was intentional, but it was enough to give her time to begin moving away from him. He screamed at her in his mind to fly away, he knew she knew how by now, but all the came out of his mouth of a mad cackle and a dribble of blood. Gods, he didn’t even sound human!

He watched as she began to back crawl away from him, fear slowly overtaking the anger that had been shining in her eyes. He watched as she fell, her hand bleeding badly from the ragged sword blade she had just put her hand on. It was over, she knew it, but he wasn’t going to allow it. She was his woman by gods and only he could kill her. Only the true Hook could end Sarah Darling’s life. He screamed in his mind, watching as she struggled to free the sword from Noodler’s dead grip. He felt the thrill of happiness from Tobias as he realized she was defenseless. He heard the scream as his hook swung down and answered it with a battle cry or his own as he pushed through the creature’s control. He broke free just as his hook sunk into her chest.

It was as if the whole world rushed in to meet him. The pain of his chest wound, closer than he had originally thought, began to radiate through his body and he heard the echoes of his love’s screams around him as he pulled his hook free.

“No. Gods no!” He knelt down beside her, holding her to him as she gasped out something. It was too quiet for him to hear over his own keening sobs. He felt her hand, warm and soft on his cheek and looked down at her. She was still beautiful, even bloodied and dying she still managed to be beautiful. 

“I’m…sorry. I…I couldn’t…wait.” She smiled for a moment before blood began to bubble up to her lips, staining them a scarlet that he normally found beautiful. On her it was just ghastly and ugly. 

“No. Sarah, you can’t. I, oh gods Sarah I love you.” He looked down at her, she was gone. She was smiling, her eyes closed as if in sleep. Tears slid down her cheek, mingling with the blood running in a small rivulet from her mouth and dripping into a pool on the decking. They mingled in a beautiful ballet of pale pink and deep crimson that began to swim in his vision as blackness clouded them out. His end was near, he knew it, that shot hadn’t been intended to wound and his girl knew how to shoot. He felt his body go slack, falling forward over that of the only woman he had ever loved.

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The ground shook under them, waking both. Hook as the first to full consciousness, though his dream had left him shaken. It wasn’t until he heard the muffled sobbing that he remembered where he was and who he was with. He turned to see Sarah, naked and shivering on the floor of the tunnel, her shoulders wracked with sobs. He felt fear creep into his belly as he remembered his dream. He had seen her like that in it, right before he’d killed her. Surely though, that was just a dream. He was beside her in a second, pulling her to his chest in a rough, almost possessive grip. Sarah took a moment to enjoy his embrace, even if it wasn’t as tender as she would’ve liked. She reveled in the sound of his heartbeat, strong and steady, though a bit fast and gloried in the feel of his body, warm and alive. She took a few calming breaths and pulled herself out of his embrace.

“Get dressed. There is something down here with us and I would rather not face it unclothed.” His voice had returned to its usual gruffness and the moment was broken. She sighed and grabbed her breeches and bra, pulling them on and fastening them. Her leg hurt considerably less now, probably from the time exposed to the air and dryness. The wound had scabbed over entirely now and was no longer leaking plasma. Her shoulder was sore but also on the mend. She looked over at Hook, enjoying the eye full she was getting as he laced himself back into his breeches. Damn that man was fine. He looked up just as her eyes were sliding over his ass and cleared his throat. “While I do appreciate the thought my dear, perhaps we should find our way back to the surface before our next…skirmish.” His voice held all manner of promise and it set her skin to tingling almost immediately.

“Oh shut it, you’ll have to do a lot more than look good in some pants before I touch you again.” She smirked at him as she spoke, her eyes dancing with mischief as she turned. “So, which way, deeper in or back the way we came. Maybe the mermaids will be back.” She looked to him, a genuine trust in her eyes that hadn’t been there before. Seeing that in her made his heart flutter. No one had ever trusted him before. It was a foreign feeling, something that made him equal parts happy and nervous. He was completely out of his depth now. He had acknowledged his feelings for her, though not to her face yet, and would have to eventually deal with the fact that he had allowed himself to fall in love. It gave added pressure to his need to protect her. She was his now and he would never allow any harm to come to her.

That thought brought visions of his dream to his mind and must’ve shown on his face because she was in front of him a moment later. She reached up slowly, giving him plenty of time to pull away as she rested her palm against his cheek. He met her eyes and felt his heart still as the dream washed over him again. This is how she had given her farewell. He pulled away, closing his eyes as the vision of her face, dead and cold, swam into his vision.

“Hook, James, what’s wrong?” She put a hand on her hip, the attraction from a moment ago disappearing into her usual irritation. “Seriously man, get a grip, I was just making sure you were alright. You looked murderous there for a second.” She laughed, the sound bringing him back to the present and giving him something to ground himself in. She wasn’t dead, he hadn’t done any of those horrid things to his crew and it would not come to be. Not like the other times.

“I am well, and I think we should return to the beach.” He turned, not catching her eye this time, and began to march back up the corridor. He didn’t see the man sized shadow creep up behind them, red eyes flashing as a white toothed grin spread across a pitch black, featureless face.


	11. What She's Always Feared

“Hello Sarah, long time no see.” The voice was sickly sweet and lethal. It echoed around the passage like it was coming from all directions at once. It was a voice that both Hook and Sarah knew well, though for entirely different reasons and it changed to a laugh and they both spun to face the featureless creature that stood almost motionless behind them.

“You!” Hook reached for his pistol, forgetting that it had been taken from him. He swore as his hand came away from his belt, empty and flexing into a fist as anger boiled up inside him. His fury was compounded almost instantly by a nervous laugh. It wasn’t the creature, it was Sarah. She was facing the thing, shoulders hunched, posture turned from the confident woman he’d come to know to that of a meek little girl, facing a bogey man.

“That’s it, once my girl, always my girl.” The creature began to move in earnest, it’s not quite solid feet sliding over the stone of the corridor without a sound. It was eerie, the way it moved. It was like someone had taken liquid darkness and encased it in a skin. It wasn’t quite solid, it flowed instead of stepped and even when it was standing still, it rippled and waved with the currents that were constantly passing through it. Hook stepped forward, reaching out for the now shaking woman he had come to love but stilled instantly when the creatures fingers sharpened into points. The threat was understood, or at least he thought it was. Move and die, but he didn’t care, he would give his life to save her from the fate he had dreamed. He squared his shoulders and took another step toward Sarah but stopped again as the points shot out, not toward him, but toward her. Two wrapped around her, one around her neck and the other around her upper torso, the other three, still sharpened, settled over her temple, her jugular and her heart. Hook felt his stomach turn as the creature slid forward, wrapping its other arm around her waist and turning her to face him. It nuzzled into her neck, its eyes fixed on his face as his hand wound around her body and moved up to caress her face. She didn’t even flinch. It was like she was entranced. She had a small smile on her face, absent of any true emotion, painted on by this creature’s influence.

“Now now, none of that Captain. You have something of mine and I want it back. This woman is mine, she always has been. She forgets, from time to time and I have to remind her.” At this, one of the talons sunk into her skin. She let out a gasp of pain and tears began to well up in her eyes, but she remained still. “But you see, none of that really matters because she is such a good girl. She understands that she needs to be punished for running from me the way she did and that once she has taken her punishment, she will be rewarded.” Another tendril began to move, sliding up her forearm and sinking into the vein in the crook of her elbow. Hook watched in morbid fascination as a milky white liquid began to move out of the blackness, flowing into Sarah’s arm. He watched as the woman he loved became a shell, glassy eyed and vacant. He knew the effects well, for it was Opium, or some derivative that was being pumped into her and he had been its victim on more than one occasion.

“No! Sarah! Wake up woman!” He took another step forward, determined to save her from the clutches of this vile creature, but was again stilled when her sighs of contentment were replaced by the ragged breaths of pain. He watched as the liquid limbs of the creature began to constrict around her torso. He closed his eyes, mastering his anger in a way he thought lost to him and when he opened them again, he was the picture of gentility. “It appears that we are at an impasse. I will not give her up and neither will you. If you kill her, neither party wins and you have done all this work for nothing. I propose a wager. Release her from whatever hypnotism you have placed on her and give her a choice. Whomever she chooses, wins and the other, dies. I would say it is more than generous on both our parts. Wouldn’t you agree…Tobias?” He smirked, watching the thing’s grin falter and slide into a grimace. He had learned a great deal of the fairy folk in his time in Neverland and one of the many myths he had always wanted to try was whether a thing’s true name could govern its will. It would appear that, at least as far as this creature was concerned, it could.

“Bad form Captain, but very well.” Tobias stepped back and released Sarah from its grasp, withdrawing all talons and tendrils back into itself and waiting while the fog of Opium cleared. They stood that way for what seemed like an eternity, watching as the expressions on Sarah’s face flitted from ecstasy to sorrow and back again until finally, her eyes began to clear and she slumped back against this wall of the passage, her breath ragged and her chest heaving.

“What the fuck was that!?” She rubbed at her eyes, trying in vain to clear the fog that had become well known to her in her time with Toby. This thing, it acted just like him, down to the last detail. The hugging, the forced injections, that sickly sweet voice. But that thing wasn’t Toby, it wasn’t even human.

“Foul mouthed as ever I see.” Tobias chuckled, it sounded like sludge that had been brought to a boil.

“Yeah well you should know, you taught me. Ass Jackal.” She smirked. One thing her life had taught her was how to bounce back quickly from any and all drug trips, opiates especially. She was already beginning to get back in command of her faculties as well as her higher motor skills. “So what the hell is going on? I know you, but you can’t be you because the you you’re supposed to be is Human, not some black blob monster from the black lagoon.” She turned to the creature, still leaning against the wall, but trying to make it look casual instead of necessary.

“If you mean am I Tobias, then yes, I am. I know I don’t look the same sweetheart, but it is me. I’ve changed, can’t you tell? I’m not that punk kid anymore and I wanna start over…with you.” His voice was so soothing, it washed over her like a warm summer rain and she found that old spark start to sizzle again. She closed her eyes against the feeling, trying to remain rational, her body falling back against the wall as she allowed her senses to take over. She’d always trusted her gut to get her out of bad situations and if this didn’t count as one, she didn’t know what did so she would let her heart decide.

“Sarah. Remember what this man did to you. You left him for a reason, though you haven’t seen fit to tell me what it was. If he was such a good man, capable of change, why did he not do so when you needed him to?” Hook’s voice was strong, confident, warm and alive in a way Toby had never been able to manage. It was like oil and fire. Both were beautiful in their own right, but one would always dominate the other.

“Please baby. I know I treated you bad and I’m sorry. I just love you so much that it comes out bad sometimes. Is he any better? Didn’t he treat the same? Remember what he did to you? Remember your leg? All those times he insulted you and hurt you? Is he truly so much better than me?” It was like being pulled apart inside. Smooth talking Toby and Fiery Captain Hook, both yanking her in his direction until she thought she would split at the seams. 

“See how weak he is, forced to ridiculing another to make himself seem better in comparison. He can’t even tell you what is so wonderful about him now. But I can. Yes, I have not always been a gentleman toward you, I have injured you, but have you not done the same to me? We are a match, you and I, not always at peace, but necessary. He is pathetic Sarah, not worth your time. You know your choice.” His voice sounded closer now, like he was moving toward her, but she hadn’t heard him take a step.

“Sarah, stop moving or I swear I’ll kill him!” Ah, there was the voice she knew, gruff and commanding. But it wasn’t, not anymore, it was the voice of spoiled kid, a sad little king on a sad little hill trying to pretend himself a true power. He was a gang leader sure, of about ten, and even then they never did anything but knock over the occasional gas station and play GTA on Toby’s X-Box. Why had she ever been threatened by him? She could’ve kicked his ass then and she knew she would be more than a match for him now. He had no power over her anymore. She smirked, the corner of her lips pulling up as her eyes slid open. 

“I won’t let you.” She stood away from the wall, putting herself between Hook and the creature. She felt good, really good. She felt strong and sure like she never had before. She knew who she was, at last, she understood what she’d been running from all these years. It was stupid really, now that she thought about it. She’d grown up on stories of Wendy and Pan, the adventurous little girl that gets whisked away and rescued by the brave young lad with the leaf blade sword. Her father used to compare her to Wendy and she’d hated it. She swore she would never be Wendy…but she was. She always had been. She was the powerful, adventurous, willful daughter of a long line of women who shared those characteristics, it had just taken a Pirate to make her see it. She was nobody’s plaything now, nor would she be ever again, and it all started with killing this rat bastard before he could ruin Neverland any further.

“You won’t let me? How do you propose to stop me? You have no weapons, and I am one. You are outgunned, outclassed and outmatched in every way. You can’t win and you can’t run. You are mine Sarah, always have been, always will be.” He took a step forward, expecting her to bolt or fall apart like she had last time, but she stood firm, that smirk still planted on her face.

“No, ya see, that’s where you’re wrong hun. I was never yours. You were a distraction for me Toby, a way to make my daddy pay for always comparing me to someone else or not hugging me enough. You were my teenage rebellion that took a while to quit. You mean nothing to me, you are nothing to me. You never had me and you never will because I belong with someone else. A real man who understands how to treat a woman. You’re a boy Toby, always have been, always will be.” She turned, walking toward Hook. Internally she was praying to every god or goddess she could name that her hunch had been right and that she wasn’t about to get impaled but outwardly, she was the calmest thing alive.

She made it to Hook just as the corridor began to shake. An unholy wailing began around them as the creature began to shift. Its body began to lengthen and stretch, hunching onto four legs as it grew teeth, big ones. It meant to carry out its threat of death and they were truly unarmed. She looked at him, grinning like mad as the adrenaline began to pump through her. His face mirrored her own and the part of her brain that wasn’t currently strategizing realized for the third time since she’d woken up that she was in love with him. They heard the creature hit the ground behind them and they took off down the passage at a dead sprint.

Sarah had never run so fast in her life. Her legs moved under her like a machine. She couldn’t keep track of what they were doing and simply prayed that they would keep it up until they reached what she assumed was the relative safety of the cavern where the mermaids had brought them. She also prayed that their weapons would be there when they arrived. She heard the bellow of the beast behind them as it tore after them, ripping up great chucks of rock and earth as it moved. 

“Trouble! Why are women always such trouble!?” Hook was panting beside her, keeping stride in a way that only a man used to running could do. 

“Because we’re so good at everything else! Now shut up and run!” She was laughing too now, watching as the expression on her lover’s face changed from irritated to amused. She also tried to ignore the tingling in her belly as the amusement faded into a truly sinful form of determination and something that she was sure to think of a name for after she’d experienced it a little more closely. 

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The sea was calm…too calm. Neverland wasn’t exactly known for its coastal activity but there was always at least a little motion in the waves, some white caps near the beach and a little further out from where the ship was moored. But today, it was like glass. No wind stirred and not one drop moved. It was like the whole of the island was frozen in time. Peter didn’t like it. 

First he is smacked by a strange fairy. Then he attacks Sarah for no apparent reason. Then there was that whole business with Tiger Lily, he still couldn’t think of it without blushing, and now the Island was acting odd. What was next? How could he stop it? He was the hero after all, it was his job to stop bad things and help pretty ladies out of danger. He wished instantly that he could take that thought back. Pretty ladies always made him think of Wendy and Wendy made him think of Sarah.

Was she alive? Had he killed her? He had stabbed her, run her right through, he knew he had, and then she had fallen into the water. She was probably dead, stuck to the bottom of the ship with the barnacles and seaweed, her hair fanned out around her dead eyes. It was all his fault. He felt wretched. It was then that a thought occurred to him. He had never felt this way before. He had felt bad sure, when he’d done something naughty around Wendy and she had scolded him, but it had never hurt this…deep before.

He looked down at his hands, his chest, his legs. He looked the same, sounded the same. He still flew and crowed and fought, but he felt different. Like something inside, under the skin, had changed. It was confusing and he didn’t like it, but he didn’t know how to fix it. He wished Sarah was around, but quickly buried that thought as it made him feel wretched again. He looked out toward the shoreline. He felt so bad, but no clouds, no rain, no snow or thunder or lightning. The island was ignoring him, or couldn’t read his emotions anymore. He wasn’t the only one changing. The ground began to rumble under his feet and a new emotion blossomed in his mind, worry. What was happening to his beloved home? Once upon a time, the island and the boy had been one and the same, the one reflecting the other, but no longer. It was new, strange and dangerous. He’d never known that the island could feel, but now he knew, it was confused as he was and it was upset. He looked toward the summit of the mountain, there was smoke coming from it now, thick and dark, the island was very upset.

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Damn that man was quick! Sarah looked in front of her, watching as the muscles in Hook’s back bunched and rolled as he ran. He hadn’t slowed down at all, they’d been running flat out for what felt like ages, turning down twisting passages and tunnels that only seemed to lead to more of the same, but he’d never once changed pace. They had to be getting close. The air was different, less heavy and stale than it had been. It burned in her lungs as her legs redoubled their efforts to make her sit down.

She’d already fallen twice. Lucky for them, they appeared to have gotten a good lead on the monster, whatever it was. They’d ducked down passages that it was too big to fit through and gained some real headway while it shifted into something that could fit in the opening. They could still hear it, pounding away at the earth so hard it seemed to shake. She wasn’t sure that it wasn’t shaking actually. She’d been near several different volcanoes during and before an eruption and she wouldn’t swear that these didn’t feel like tremors. All of this had only served to make her run faster. She knew what these tunnels had been at one point and she would be damned if she was gonna get caught up in a ventilation shaft during an eruption.

“Nearly there, I can see the door. Hurry!” His voice seemed to spur her on. She pushed off from the ground, doing a little half skip to get herself into a full out sprint just as the beast broke through a small wall to her left. It began to bear down on them hard. She watched Hook disappear through the door and heard a shout of victory. The sound of a gun cocking met her ears as she rocketed around the corner and she bent backward, sliding on her knees into the sand as Hook fired straight into the face of the beast. It recoiled away from them, scratching at its face as he reloaded, firing again, right into one of its glaring red eyes. It let out a roar of fury and pain and vanished back into the corridor, the door slamming shut behind it.

“So, that’s my ex-boyfriend. Glad you two met.” Sarah smiled up at Hook as he walked over to her, kneeling beside her with a grin.

“Madame, may I say, you have terrible taste in partners.” His tone was conversational and relaxed and for some reason, funny as hell. Sarah found herself leaning into his chest, her shoulders shaking with silent laughter as his deep rumbling baritone joined in. They fell back into the sand, laughing like children until their sides hurt and tears were sliding down their faces. It wasn’t until they heard splashing that they were able to control themselves.

Sarah was the first to look up. She already knew what she would see but was still shocked by the beauty of the creatures in the water. She got up, brushing sand from her leggings as she walked slowly to the water’s edge.

You have done well. Now the danger must be met, the evil faced. You know of whom we speak. Take up your weapons and seek battle with this creature lest all the world be lost. We bring gifts, take them with our good faith and will. May they serve you well.

The mermaid laid her hands on the sand and Sarah watched as weapons began to form out of it. There were two swords, three daggers and two pistols. One sword, on dagger and one pistol had a hook engraved into the hilts. The others had a raven with a single rose held in its beak, just like the one on the sword she had on her back piece. She’d gotten that tattoo ages ago, when she’d first discovered paganism, and the raven and the rose had always been her symbols, one was her familiar, until Toby shot it, and the other had always been her favorite plant. She felt herself smile as she knelt down to inspect them further.

Rest now, we will carry you skyward when you are healed.

With that as parting words, the women sunk soundlessly back into the water, leaving not a bubble or ripple to betray that they had been there. Sarah felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Hook, looking down at her with an expression she’d never seen before.

“Are you alright?” His tone was worried and she smiled.

“Yeah, shit storm of a break up, but I think I’ll live.” She stood, stepping closer to him.

“He was right you know. You really do have a foul mouth.” He grinned, capturing her lips in a fiery kiss, that same belly tingling look crossing his face as he swept her leg out from under her, bearing them both to the ground.


	12. A Discussion And Play

Her whole body ached. Her wounds, though healing, were tight against her skin. In spite of this, she had never felt more relaxed. She was wrapped in a tangle of limbs with the pirate captain she used to dream of and the sand was warm and soothing against her damp skin. Her head was pillowed on his chest, moving gently with the pace of his breath. She couldn’t tell if he was sleeping or just relaxed but she found herself without a desire to check. All she needed in that moment was his heart beat in her ear and his chest, warm and alive under her cheek. She had just resolved to move when she felt a hand glide up her arm, tracing small circles against her skin. The feeling it sparked was far more intense than it had any right to be and she found herself laughing softly. She felt his own mirth rumble under her cheek as he chased her retreating arm across his chest.

“Be nice. I don’t like being tickled.” Her voice sounded sleepy in her ears.

“My dear, I am being nice. If I were to be cruel you would know.” As he spoke this last, he placed his hook against her side, sliding it gently against the skin in a way he had learned made her shiver. He rumbled out another laugh as she arched against him, her fingers tensing against the muscles of his chest.

“Bad form Captain, I’m in no fit state to defend myself.” She sounded more awake now, ready for the game he was beginning.

“Acknowledged, but as you have said in the past…” He wrapped an arm around her and flipped her onto her back, pinning her with his body and his gaze as his chest pressed against hers. “I am not a nice man.” His lips crashed into hers; effectively cutting off any return banter she may have been ready to give.

She took a moment to think what a bastard and a cheat he was, distracting her so he could get the last word, but only a moment as his hand began to wander over her skin. It felt like butterfly wings were grazing the skin of her torso, sending chills rising up wherever his hand went. The feeling was heightened by the fact that she had to remain still due to his hook’s proximity to her side. The feather light touches soon became more rough, his kiss deepening as his hand began to knead the flesh of her breast. He laughed against her lips as she squeaked in surprise, arching up into his hand in a way that made his pulse quicken. Her hands began to move, holding onto her lover like she might float away if she let go. Her breath began to quicken as his attention became more focused and soon her body was writhing in need.

“Patience, my love, I intend to make this last.” His voice dripped sex as he whispered against her cheek. Despite his words, his hand slowly began to move across her bare stomach, tracing circular paths in the sheen of sweat that had developed anew in the last few minutes. He stopped at her navel, tracing circles around it softly, his hand spreading out against the skin. It made her feel so small to notice that his hand spanned almost the whole of her stomach. For some reason, it set a fire in her belly, to have his hand so close to what she needed, but still so far away. She arched her hips up, whimpering softly in request.  
“Please. James. I’m bad at waiting.” She looked into his eyes and knew that her asking would get her nowhere. In point of fact, the wicked grin that spread over his face made her regret the request almost as soon as it left her lips. His movements slowed even more, if that was possible, and she felt a very specific kind of hatred erupt inside her. She heard him chuckle at the look she was currently projecting at him, his fingers brushing the nest of curls at her center. Her breath hitched in her chest as his fingers slid against her super-heated center, brushing lightly against her most sensitive flesh until her back was arching up off the sand as she moaned softly.

Hook was entranced by her. Her body was so soft, beautiful and flexible in ways no woman should be. He loved to make her flex and bend under his hand, be it in combat or rapture and to watch as he reduced her to this state gave him more pleasure than it should. He relished the power he had over her, letting her come down enough to attempt speech before sending her over the edge again with a few well-placed strokes. By the time he was finished, she was panting, eyes closed, skin slick with moisture. By the gods she was beautiful. He felt himself laugh softly, the sound causing her eyes to flutter open as the rosy centers of her breasts hardened into peaks.

“That…was unfair.” She tried to sound injured or upset but she knew the smile on her face gave her away. She was enjoying this game just as much as he was and he knew it. “My turn.” She pushed up against him, her legs wrapping around his and pressing him back into the sand, her legs set firmly on either side of his. She smirked down at him, her nails scratching thin lines down his chest as she ghosted over the physical evidence of his arousal. He made to grab her but she slid out of his reach. He looked up, watching as she knelt between his legs, her grinning lips lowering themselves toward his member.

The next few moments passes in a blur for him. The pleasure she gave him left his skin tingling and his pulse racing as he buried his hand in her hair, holding her in place as he thrust up into her. He knew he was making sound though he couldn’t have described it later. All he knew was that her lips were doing things to him that no woman had ever done and if she were to stop, he would go mad. He knew he was getting close and that he should stop if he wanted to carry through on his promise but it was too good. It wasn’t until she pulled away, leaving him sensitive in the suddenly cool air of the cave that he began to return to his senses.

His eyes shot open at the lack of sensation and he was met with a kittenish expression of innocence that drove the last vestiges of his plan from his mind. He had intended to take her slowly, bringing her to her peak as many times as she could stand before he finally took his pleasure. He was going to make love to her slowly and sweetly, but the little minx had pushed him too far and he would make her pay. He lunged at her, catching her around the middle and pinning her to the ground with a shout. She was grinning, laughing softly and wriggling to get out of his grasp. She didn’t understand what she had done to him, but she would soon. He slid up her body, resting between her legs as his eyes caught hers. He saw the moment understanding hit her. Her smile faded and her eyes became serious, challenging, her hips rising ever so slightly away from the sand.

“What’s the matter Captain, have I pushed you too far?” She raised an eyebrow, a lazy smirk crossing her face. The desire it sparked in him made him gasp audibly, his mind going blank of any thought until she brushed against him.

“I will make you beg before the end.” He sealed his promise with a scorching kiss, his tongue forcing its way into her mouth as he sheathed himself fully inside her. He felt her arch against him, her breasts pressing into his chest deliciously. She was tight still, even though it had been mere hours since he had last had her. It felt wonderful and he heard himself growl as he broke the kiss.

Sarah watched in a haze as Hook rose up, getting a firm grip on her hips as he began to move inside her. She felt every thrust like she was about to split in two and all she could do was grip his arms and pray he didn’t stop. Her body shook with every push of his hips, her breasts bouncing in time with his hips and she found herself whimpering out half spoken pleas as he began to pick up speed. She could feel her climax coming on, her whole body began to arch up off the sand as the fire in her belly got hotter and hotter, and then he stopped.

“No…please don’t stop…James…please…I need more.” Her voice was so breathy, needy and weak; it was exactly what he wanted. He grinned, a low laugh echoing around them as he lowered himself onto her slowly until their bodies were flush together. He braced himself against the shifting beach and began to thrust in earnest, driving her almost instantly back into ecstasy. He gave her several more before he finally finished, his body relaxing almost instantly against her as they rested in a tangle of limbs and slippery skin.

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It took an eternity for either of them to gain enough energy to move. Sarah seemed content to let him rest on top of her, drawing small circles on his back where her hands rested. He laughed softly, pushing himself up off of her enough to see her face and felt his heart lurch with a new emotion. He knew he loved her; he had for a while though he had been loathe to admit it until now, but this was different. This was something softer, calmer than love, affection perhaps. He wanted to be with her, all the time. He wanted her in his life until its natural end, regardless of her flaws or the irritation she often caused him.

She opened her eyes, the lids drifting lazily upward. It took her a moment to focus on him but he relished the smile that crossed her face when their eyes met. He turned them gently so that she was resting on him, holding her close to his chest as she nuzzled into the crook of his neck. Her hair fell over his face as she moved and he reveled in the scent of it.

“Wanna just live down here? I don’t wanna move.” She giggled as she spoke, the breath ghosting across his neck and making him shiver. This just made her laugh out right and the peaceful mood was ruined. He grinned as an idea occurred to him. He sat up, carrying her with him before pushing her backward, causing her to tumble into the water not far behind them. The squeal that echoed around them was enough to put him into a fit of laughter, but it was short lived as she surfaced, her face a mask of irritation.

“I do apologize my dear, but you smelled.” He grinned, standing as she walked toward him.

“Oh I smell? I guess you can’t smell your own stench. Let me help you with that.” She ducked behind him, shoving him hard toward the water and laughing as he pitched over face first into its depths.

This lead to an hours long battle of wrestling and dunking as they chased eachother around the small cavern. It wasn’t until they were both thoroughly soaked and exhausted that Sarah finally called a truce in their impromptu war and collapsed onto the sand in a fit of giggles.

“Was that really necessary?” She grabbed her pants from where they had been tossed and pulled them over her lower legs. She continued to laugh as Hook watched her lay back and shimmy them up her still damp legs.

“I suppose not.” He said, retrieving his own pants from the other end of the cave. “But it was fun.” He grinned as he settled next to her.

They enjoyed a few moments of comfortable silence before Sarah began to think. She had been determinedly ignoring the events between herself and the good captain, but given the situation they were in, she now found it impossible to ignore. She was searching her memory, trying to pinpoint the exact moment when she had fallen in love with him, but as she thought, she couldn’t find one. It seemed to have just happened. Or maybe it had always been there, buried under the abuse and verbal sparring. She would be lying if she said the attraction hadn’t been there, but she would also be lying if she said it had always been romantic. Perhaps the spark had always been there, waiting for them to get past the need to be enemies. 

“What is this? Between us, I mean.” She looked over at him, hoping that she hadn’t just opened a can of worms that would ruin the fragile peace that had sprung up between them.

“Must it have a title? Can it not just be?” He looked over at her, the same fear and exhaustion she felt, clearly visible in his eyes.

“I don’t care if it has a name. I just want to know if it will be gone the moment we leave this cave.” She knew that her words were harsh, but she couldn’t handle another fuck and run from him, not after all they’d been through. He was silent for a long while, his eyes blank as he searched his thoughts.

“I am a man Sarah. I am a Captain and above all, I am a Pirate. These are things I cannot change. I can say that I will not leave you again. You are mine as I am yours, but I am no true gentleman. I am not a nice man and I will not always treat you gently unless you promise me the same. I cannot name what we have but I can say that it will not be easily broken.” She had never heard him sound so sincere and she felt a security wash over her that she had never felt with any other man. She felt a smile cross her face as she moved closer to him, planting a soft kiss on his lips.

“Thank you James. Now, shall we go kill things?” She grinned, standing and grabbing her bra, clasping it skillfully back on as she approached the water. Hook smiled, walking with her in almost perfect step.

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Peter flew toward the peak of the mountain, closing his eyes against the noxious black smoke that curled out of it. It had been going on for a number of days now without cease and he was beginning to get truly worried. He found that he didn’t like all these new emotions. He missed being the carefree youth he had been before Sarah had arrived. He missed his adventures with his lost boys, all chased away by his fit of madness. Once upon a time, he would’ve simply ignored the smoke and left the Island to look after itself as it always had. Now he had to investigate, check things out to make sure no one was in danger. He longed for the days when Wendy told him stories.  
He reached the summit faster than he thought possible and was soon perched at the mouth of what turned out to be a massive crater in the top of the mountain. He could see a raised dome in the middle of the black interior, slowly smoldering as holes began to open up around its base. He knew nothing of mountains, that was something you learn in school, which he had fortunately escaped, but even he knew that bubbles in mountains was a bad sign.  
He began to climb down the interior of the crater, opting to float when the rock became too hot to cling to but was forced to go back when the air began to burn in his lungs. He decided then and there to go to the leader of the fairies and get to the bottom of what was happening to his island.

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Sarah was the first to be pulled under.

They had been waiting in the shallows for the mermaids to return for them, floating in the warm shallows where they had last seen the golden haired leader. Hook had been complaining, as per usual, about the flighty nature of females but was silenced when a pair of cool hands circled around his middle and began to pull him out into the deeper waters around the cave. He watched as Sarah was slowly pulled below the surface, the flash of scales under them signaling that it was time to go. His own descent followed shortly there after. They both received the mermaid’s kiss, alleviating the pressure they felt constricting their lungs and filling them with oxygen as they began to traverse the winding path of caverns that was hidden at the base of the island.

There were mermaids everywhere around them. Most were the vicious creatures with which Hook was already acquainted and they shrieked in frustration as they saw a perfectly good meal being dragged by them. For a moment, Hook thought that the nasty little fish wives were going to attack their guides but whatever mystical power this strange breed had was a source of both respect and fright to them so they kept their distance. Sarah, for her part, was in heaven. She had always loved the water and had often dreamed of being able to do the very thing she was doing now. She freed herself from her guide’s grip, swimming along beside her with a grace Hook had never seen. It was like she was dancing in the current that was carrying them forward and if not for the firm grip of his guide, he would have simply stopped to watch her. She would turn flips and spins beside the blonde leader, a wide smile on her face and the mermaid mimicked her actions. It wasn’t until they got to the mouth of the cave that he saw what she was truly capable of.

Up until this point she had been using a normal scissor kick to propel herself through the water, keeping pace with her guide, but just barely. Once out of the confines of the tunnels, she began to mimic their actions, undulating her body as if she were boneless, powering through the water in a way he had never seen a human do. This did give him pause, and he was not the only one. Several of the mermaids stopped as well, smiling and laughing softly as they saw her movement. Soon enough, she was surrounded by a group of three or four of the beautiful creatures, all of them twisting and turning around her as she did spins and at one point even began to swim backward, her arms pointed above her head, like she diving in reverse.

She caught his eye at one point and smiled, motioning for him to catch up as he and his guide were the only ones still at the mouth of the cave. He shook himself from his stupor and began to power his way through the depths, parting the water with broad strokes to get up along side her. When he caught her, he pulled her into his grip, kissing her roughly before pushing past her, grinning as he did so. The race was on.

The mermaids gave them space, laughing their tinkling laugh as they watched the two struggle to win the honor of being first to breathe fresh air again. It was like watching a bear and a panther, one was all grace and skill, fast lithe movements and precise motion while the other was simple power and determination. In the end it was Hook who won out. Sarah had been within a finger’s breadth of the surface when he caught his hook in her pant leg, torn ragged and loose by its time in the cavern, and pulled her down below him. She let out a string of swear words that would have caused the best of his crew to blush, though he couldn’t tell what they were as they were muffled by the water, and watched as he kicked his way to victory. She surfaced a second after him, still swearing and splashing water in his face. 

“You cheating son of a bitch!” She swam over to him, pushing him under the water and floating over him toward the beach only to be pulled back by her ankle and pinned against a strongly muscled chest.

“As I said before, I am a pirate, and not at all a nice man. Though my mother was a fine woman and I would appreciate it if you did not disparage her so.” He pulled her back for a kiss, dunking her under the water and swimming toward the shore line. Sarah bobbed back up, shaking the curtain of wet hair out of her face and she glared after him, mentally promising revenge on the mermaids that were giggling behind them. She turned, intending to give them a very foul piece of her mind but was struck by the look of abject glee on their faces. They weren’t mocking her, simply feeling the joy she secretly shared at the horse play he had engaged her in.

“Laugh it up, fish wives.” She smirked at them, watching as they all broke into outright laughter, sinking below the surface. The only one to stay was the leader, her blonde hair fanned out around her as she floated mere feet from Sarah.

We have given you the tools. Use them to heal the Island and the boy. The ship must sail. Bring this about or else your dreams shall ring true.

She inclined her head to Sarah and sunk below the water with her sisters, disappearing into the deeps as if she had never been. Sarah felt her good mood disappear like smoke on water and she found herself watching the man she loved stand on the beach and stretch. She had seen him die, she had seen him kill her. She couldn’t allow that to happen. He called out to her from the beach, motioning her to hurry and she sighed, burying the negative thoughts and making her way to what she hoped would be a good future.


	13. Of Battles And Bloodshed

The ground shook as Sarah stood on the beach. The wind curled around her, hot and dry, not at all the cool breeze she was used to. She and Hook both had seen the smoke, curling over the island like an omen made physical and she tried to fight down the terror she felt. It wasn’t just that an eruption was imminent, though that thought alone was enough to give even the bravest pause, it was it represented. Toby wasn’t dead. He was down there, under the island, right now. She shuddered as she thought of him, mutated and evil; plotting gods only knew what kind of revenge. Her dream flashed through her mind and she looked over at her lover, the man who had saved her from herself. It wouldn’t happen, she wouldn’t let it.

“Come on, we need to find Lucas, he’ll probably be hiding in the forest somewhere.” She readjusted the sword at her belt, resting her hand on its hilt as she pushed it closer to her body.

“Is that wise? My men are bound to be in there as well, hiding from Pan no doubt and if what has affected him has affected them as well…” He looked over at her, taking in her lack of clothing and leaving the unspoken possibility between them.

“Well that’s why I’ve got these,” she held up the daggers, “And this.” She hooked a thumb under the grip of her pistol. “I’d like to see them try.” She forced a grin, burying her own dread at the memory of the flying terror that had been Peter Pan, and began to walk toward the tree line. Hook followed, sighing deeply as worry settled in his bones, he knew something was going to happen. Too many tensions were coming to a head for it to all go smoothly. By the end of this, people would be dead, things would be ruined or changed beyond repair and the odds were good that one or both of them would be broken.

“Sarah.” He caught her arm and pulled her around to face him. He paused for a moment, like he was going to speak, but found he had no words.

“James, what’s wrong? Come on, don’t get weird on me.” She grinned, clearly trying to lighten the mood between them. She had guessed his thoughts and shared them, more than likely she had had them first, but he wouldn’t allow her to bury this. He knew that if they were to survive, she had to confront them and embrace them. As nasty as they were, those feelings would keep them focused, and being focused would keep them alive. He pulled her close, kissing her hard, trying to convey all the things he couldn’t say into that one point of contact. He felt moisture on his face and realized that she was crying. He pulled back, meeting her eyes with his own. “I love you too. Now come on.” 

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“I seek audience with the Fairy Queen.” Pan’s voice rang out as he stood before the massive trunk of the enchanted tree where the fairies made their home. He’d already been stopped twice by two different advanced guards and checked over for any sign of what they were calling “taint”. Lucky for him, he had passed through both tests. He didn’t know it, but the test was in itself a weapon in the fact that it would destroy any taint it found, reducing the creature housing it to dust.

“Hello boy, our queen is indisposed; she cannot survive in this environment and has been put into a magical sleep, for her own protection as well as the protection of the island. What do you want of her?” It was the emissary that spoke. Peter knew him well, he was the one that had sent Tinkerbell to him in the first place and he had returned many times since to make sure she was alright. He was also her uncle, a very protective little thing that had stung Peter more than once for insolence or mistreatment. He was to be respected.

“Emissary, I know you’ve noticed what’s going on here. What is it? Why is the island so angry? How do we fix it?” His questions rushed out of him as they are want to do with a child and he felt his heart lighten as he realized he was going to get help. He knew that this was something that was beyond him and he was finally in a place where he could pass the uncomfortable responsibility on to someone else.

“There is a spirit here, inhabiting the roots of the mountain, a dark creature with a dark heart and a truly evil purpose. He is poisoning Neverland from the base of the island, sending out evil into the very earth. The island knows of his plans and does not approve, as such, it is trying to defend itself. The smoke on the mountain is a sign, to those of us here that are not yet darkened, to flee. There will be fire and ash soon; the island will end itself to rid the world of the monster that is trying to subjugate it. I fear that there is little we can do now to stop it. Find the girl, Peter, find the Darling Woman, she is closer to this thing than any of us. She may be our last chance to survive.” The fairy bowed to him, a clear sign of dismissal as he took flight, disappearing into the roots of the tree. Peter noticed, as he looked after him, that there was far less glow and sparkle in those tiny halls than there had once been. How many fairies had been lost to the darkness? 

He shook himself from his thoughts. He’d already lost Tink to this thing and he wouldn’t let anyone else suffer as he did. The world needed fairies. The children that ran away from home needed a place to come to. It was why he did what he did. He was their protection from a world that made them grow up too soon. He would solve this if it killed him. He turned to the clouds, shooting up faster than he had ever flown before, his eyes scanning every part of the island he could see in the vain hope of finding the girl he had killed.

But there, by the rotten trunk that housed his home, two heads, one topped with curls and the other in her signature braid. She was alive! He crowed, loud and long, watching as the figures moved, trying to find the source of the sound. He didn’t give them time, he knew Hook would never trust him and preferred surprise. Instead, he just shot toward them.

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“Well, no Lucas, but at least I can get some new clothes on. Lucas might have something you can put on, if you want to change.” Sarah walked over, pulling the battered suitcase free of the weeds that had tried to overtake it in her absence and began to rummage around for a suitable “battle” outfit. She settled from some skinny jeans, knee high boots with a nice flat heel and a black tank top. She stepped behind the tree to change, missing Hook’s look of dread as he saw the outfit from his dream, and shucked out of her tattered clothes. It felt so good to be in fresh stuff, the old ones were ruined and she tossed them away, bra and all before stepping back out from behind the tree, sliding into her boots and making sure they were secure around her legs.

Hook was about to speak, simply to answer her question of clothing, only to be interrupted by a crowing from above. It was Pan; no one else on this island could make that noise. He pulled his sword free, readying himself for an attack. He watched as Sarah did the same, opting for dual daggers instead of a sword, perhaps a wise choice given how Pan fought. Neither had a chance to put up much of a defense as the aforementioned boy sped toward them, nearly knocking Sarah to the ground with a hug.

“You’re alive! I thought I’d killed you! Oh Sarah, I’m so sorry. It was the black fairy; he made me feel all funny!” He spoke in such a rush that she only caught every other word, but the tears afterward were more than enough to explain. He was just another victim of Toby’s cruelness. She waved Hook away as he moved to “defend” her, yeah right, and wrapped her arms around the sobbing boy.

“Hey, hey kid, look, I’m still here, alive and well. I know it wasn’t your fault and I’m not mad. Now, what’s been going on?” She stepped back, putting herself between Hook and Pan, knowing full well what was coming.

“It was the black fairy; he said his name was Toby. He tricked all of us. He made Tink bad and me and Tiger Lily fought and the Indians went wild. The Lost Boys are gone, I don’t know where they went, but I chased them away and the Pirates have all gone mad, shooting at everything that moves. I think they all went back to the ship though, I haven’t seen them on the Island in a few days. Oh Sarah, it’s awful. Neverland is gonna die!” He burst into tears again, crumbling into a ball at the base of a tree. Sarah turned to Hook, catching his eye and stepping away from the distraught boy.

“It seems your former lover has been quite busy since we left.” Hook sounded murderous, his eyes focused almost entirely on Pan.

“Hey, snap out of it. If we do this right, you two can go about trying to kill each other for all of eternity if you want to, but right now we need him and he needs us. You heard what he said. The island is gonna self-destruct if we don’t get Toby out. Now, I need you to be honest with me. Did you have a dream?” She saw a look cross his face and no longer needed him to answer. 

“I did. It is not the first I’ve had. You die, Sarah, by my hand, though I am not myself at the time. I assume you’ve had one as well?” He caught her eye, watching the horror of her dream replay in her eyes.

“Yeah, not pretty, I’m guessing that was probably not just a shared worry, which means that our future is looking pretty grim. The reason I ask is because my dream showed this place blowing its top, literally. I’d never seen an eruption so violent before, even the ship wasn’t safe. Now Peter says the island is going to kill itself. Clearly, this little chunk of land is more sentient than we thought, probably because of those little souls trapped at its base, and now Toby is down there too. Are you following me on this?” She saw a look on his face she’d never seen before. It was like he was gone, his body was there but his mind had just vanished.

“I believe I may know someone who can help. We need a healer and I happen to have the best one around the island on my ship.” He grinned, watching her mind slowly work it out.

“Oh god, Smee!” She felt her whole body thrill with the hope that passed through her. 

“Why do you think I keep him around? He is useless as a pirate, but he proved useful after my…accident and is responsible for my continued existence. Surely he will know more of this…creature.” He looked to Pan, a grimace crossing his face as he saw what a mewling mess the boy had become. 

“Don’t look like that, he’s a kid, he’s scared and guilty for the part he played in all this. He’s coming with us. You know that right?” She leveled a challenging gaze at him and watched as he resigned himself to it.

“I thought you’d say that. Very well, but I will not be responsible for him. If I had wanted children I would have stayed in the Navy.” He turned, beginning to move through the trees when a weak voice stopped him.

“Wait, my way is faster.” Peter stood, walking over to Sarah as Hook turned, watching as he sprinkled glowing dust over her head. “I don’t know it if will work, you are so old. Just think happy thoughts and they will lift you up.” He sniffed, his face tear stained and sad as he walked over to Hook. For once, the man had no desire to kill him, all he felt was pity for the boy in front of him. He’d seen things that he was unprepared for, had to fight a battle he was unequipped to win and he’d learned a few things about the world. He was growing up. Hook bent slightly, allowing the dust to fall into his hair. It felt odd, like pollen from a flower on his skin, but cool and tingling.

He watched as Pan walked back, whispering something in Sarah’s ear before stepping away from the two of them, his feet slowly leaving the ground. Hook wondered, not for the first time, what his happy thought was. He knew that the boy had always been carefree, the kind of spirit that could deal out death as if it were a game, but none of the adventures he’d ever seen or heard of were remotely happy, and true happiness is a hard won thing. He wondered what Pan’s happiest thought was and the battle he’d fought to gain it.

He watched as Sarah closed her eyes, whispering a name, it sounded like “Wendy” and he felt a moment of pain that he was not her happy thought but it changed to smugness as she didn’t move. She looked down at her feet, as if something as if they were malfunctioning in some way, but at his laugh, she turned and as soon as their eyes met, she began to float. He knew his face was the picture of smug satisfaction but found the grin on her face to be far too good to pass up. He nodded to her, his body lifting easily from the ground on the first try.

“Oh you pompous ass.” She shook her head, watching as Peter gained altitude, mimicking his actions to propel herself after him. Hook followed suit, grinning as he raced after them. He already knew how to move in the air, he’d tracked Pan’s movements long enough to know how to turn and twist the same way the boy did. He passed Sarah quickly enough, turning over in the air to smirk at her as he sped toward his ship.

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Smee was starving. He knew that there was plenty in the food stores of the ship, but there was another problem. There was a mess of pirates between him and the stores, and his comrades had lost any sense of morality they may have had. Several had been killed already. Noodler was the first to go, killed for his penchant for playing Solitaire instead of Liar’s Dice or Poker. The others had thought him a weakness, to soft, and so, they’d run him through and tossed his body into the too still water around the ship. He was still there, floating and stinking by the hull. Smee had thought of dropping one of the cannon balls on him, to push him to the bottom, but thought it too callous a thing to do. At least this way poor Noodler’s soul could see the sun on its way out.

He heard a thump above him and flinched, sure that they’d finally found him. He knew that the moment they saw him, he was a dead man. He was no pirate, he never had been. He’d been part of the platoon of men that Hook had been in and they’d formed a bond almost instantly. James used to say that Smee reminded him of his father, only kinder. Once they’d turned pirate, Hook never left Smee behind. He was useless, a fat lump of a man with no spine and even less cruelty, but for some reason, he was the one man that Hook would always save.

The surface reason was that he was a healer. He was a wizard with a needle and thread and could clean any wound on the planet with some muskat and hot water, but his true value, according to Hook, was his knowledge.   
Smee was no Christian, something he kept very close to the vest in such a suspicious crew. His whole family had been druids, nature folk that lived out in the moors of northern England. As such, he knew a great deal about herbal remedies, the ebb and flow of energies as well as the names of a fair few fairy folk that didn’t live in Neverland. He’d never had reason to use his knowledge, until now, but had sworn it off when he was a child. He’d seen what that kind of power could do if turned to darkness and had made a promise to himself that he would never be its cause. 

The thump grew to a stomp, directly over his head, and he fought down the urge to scream or move. They were trying to sound him out, he knew it. They knew he was a coward, and a loud one at that, and that if they just waited and made enough noise, he would eventually startle. They were hunting him. The animals. Didn’t they have anything better to do? He missed his captain. Hook would never let any of this happen. He would impose such stringent control over this rabble that they would snap out of whatever influence had overtaken their tiny minds.

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Hook was the first to land, dropping down hard so as to gain the attention of his crew. He was more than a little angry to see that there were less of them now. He counted at least ten missing, eight of which could be found floating around the hull of his ship, but the rest were different. They milled about the ship, zombie like in their motion and even when he barked out an order, all they did was turn to face him.

“What’s the meaning of this?” He had never seen them deny that voice and it gave him pause. He was glad that he’d told the others to hang back and wait for his signal. He knew for a fact that this was not the crew he’d trained. They were all under Toby’s influence, and that made them a threat.

“You ain’t Captain here no more.” Bill stepped forward, sword in hand.

“You challenge me?” Hook fell easily into the role of ruthless captain, part of him thrilled at being back in his element.

“Not me, the Dark One. He’s promised us a way outta this god forsaken place.” The grin that crossed the man’s face was chilling. There wasn’t a scrap of humanity in it.

“I always knew you were an idiot Bill, but even you should be able to spot a liar when you see one. Stand down, or I will kill you.” Hook had come even with him now. There was no response, not even a moment’s pause to consider, Bill simply went on the attack. The others seemed to have been waiting for this as they all drew their weapons, turning to face their former captain with murder in their eyes.

“Now now boys, let’s not be unfair.” Sarah appeared beside Hook, Pan settling in on his other side. Both had weapons out and ready, grim determination on both faces.

“Go home girly, this ain’t your place.” Hook felt a grin cross his face. He couldn’t tell who had spoken, but he’d just signed his death certificate. No one put his girl in her place and lived to tell about it. He chanced a look at her, all motion on the ship still as she directed the accumulated fury and terror of the last few days onto the man. Pan said nothing, simply going on the attack, providing a distraction from Hook. Sarah followed suit, literally flying at the man who’d insulted her and cutting him down.

Everything devolved into blood shed after that. There were swords and pistols everywhere and anything that moved was an enemy. It lasted forever, one pirate would fall, one familiar face that Hook had come to know would look at him, hook buried in his chest, as the influence left them at the point of death. He saw so many looks of regret, so many looks of confusion and hurt as he cut down man after man. His chest was soaked in blood, his arm hurt from the jarring force of bouncing off ribs and sternums. He lost track of time as he watched Sarah cut down man after man, never straying far from his side, always watching his back as he engaged in combat.

Pan was a force of nature. He was finally in a fight he knew. He was making a difference here, even if it was just cutting down the suffering of his island. He felt the weight lift with every death. He knew that these beasts were responsible for his suffering. They had been the seed out of which this evil had sprung. He felt light, happy for the first time in days and he reveled in every drop of their blood he spilled. A small part of his mind shrunk away from the carnage he was causing, the purely childish side of him shrank from this new fury in horror, but he knew now that he would never be that boy again. He’d gone too far for that. He was a new boy now, closer to being a man than he ever wanted to be. He didn’t know when it had happened, perhaps it had been coming on slowly, over time lost to the island, but he was past caring now. He was who he was and would remain that way unless forced to change and change was something he hated. These damn pirates had brought him change. They’d brought him knowledge of a world outside his island and he hated them for it.

The ship was eerily silent as the battle ended. Sarah was leaning against the railing, slick with blood and sweat, panting from exertion and shaking from adrenaline. She’d never seen herself as a warrior before now. She’d always been a scrapper, someone who could hold their own against the odds, but she’d never thought herself capable of the kind of bloody death she’d dealt that day. She thought she would feel bad, guilty or shamed, but instead she felt justified. These weren’t men, not anymore. Anything human in them died when they gave themselves over to Toby’s control. They were just puppets, puppets with cut strings. 

She hurt. She’d held her own through the battle but she hadn’t come out unscathed. She had a deep wound in her shoulder, another in her calf and too many scratches and bruises to name. She knew she would have scars from this fight, scars to match the ones Hook had given her, but she found that thought strangely comforting, almost funny. She would have proof that it was her, and not some distant ancestor that had finally rid Neverland of the pirate menace that had infested it for far too long.

She looked across the ship to the man she loved, kneeling in front of the body of one of his men, a look of sorrow on his face. It was something she would never have been able to picture on him before now. She’d always seen him as a cold blooded killer, someone incapable of love, but now she knew, he was just like any other man. He’d become hard, unfeeling, but he hadn’t been born that way. He was a bad man, there was no denying it, but he was also fiercely emotional. He felt deeper than any other man she’d ever met. Perhaps that’s why he’d surrounded himself with such deplorable man, men with no souls, so that should the need arise; he could kill them without remorse. And yet, here he was, feeling guilt over his actions.

Pan was going around the ship, picking up all the weapons and throwing them into a pile at the other end of the ship, checking to make sure each man was in fact dead before moving on to the next. Several mortally wounded pirates met their end at his blade in that moment, their last sight, the sad face of a boy forced to do something he didn’t want to. 

“Peter. Come here.” Sarah held up her good arm, motioning him over to her. He walked over slowly; his eyes slowly filling with tears as the elation from the battle began to wear off, leaving only guilt and sorrow in its wake. “Listen, listen to me. You had to do this. Do you hear me? We all did. This is for a greater purpose. They weren’t themselves anymore. Something evil had shoved out all that they were and taken them over. We freed them. Do you understand?” She pushed his face up so she could meet his eyes. He nodded, tears spilling out and making tracks in the blood on his face, some his own, some not. His bottom lip wrinkled up as his eyes screwed shut, the sobs bursting out of him like a shot. She pulled him close, holding him tight with her good arm while she stroked his hair, her eyes moving to meet Hook’s. 

She felt tears of her own begin to course silently down her face as she looked around. They weren’t tears of guilt; she knew that what they’d done was necessary. They were tears of sadness. Neverland, even the grimy parts like pirates, had always been a part of her life, unchanging and safe, a place of escape for her when things got bad. It was gone now. Her whole childhood had just been ripped from her in one battle and the realization left her feeling hollow and alone. She wasn’t safe anymore. Her world had never felt further away and she was stuck in a dangerous and unfamiliar world, her only allies a Pirate Captain and a Flying Boy and she had to stop the total destruction of the only place that welcomed childish souls. It was a crushing sensation and she had to close her eyes against the tide of despair that washed over her.

They stayed that way for a while, Peter crying out all the resentment and sorrow he felt at the changes in his home, Sarah silently mourning the loss of her safe place and Hook paying silent respects to every man he’d been forced to kill. It wasn’t until they all became aware of the tiny knocking below decks that they came back to themselves. Peter pushed away from Sarah’s chest, sniffing and swallowing as he wiped the tears away. He looked over at her, a small smile crossing his face as he slowly moved toward the hatch that led to the lower decks. Hook met Sarah’s eye and nodded, moving toward her through the maze of bodies.

They all reached the hatch at the same time, surrounding it on three sides as Sarah knelt down, wrapping her hand around the ring and yanking up hard. Hook had the entrance covered instantly, his pistol, reloaded and ready, pointed directly into the face of one Mr. Smee. The poor man must’ve been through hell because at the sight of the pistol, he fainted dead away, falling flat onto his back. This seemed to be too much for the three warriors’ emotion filled minds to handle because they all burst out laughing the moment poor Smee hit the floor.

It took several minutes for them all to calm down enough to move the poor man from what they found to be a nest. He’d clearly been there a while, there was a blanket, a ratty old pillow and several days’ worth of rations, nearly gone by now, as well as what few books he’d brought with him and a notebook with a strange looking shorthand in it. He’d been recording something, though they wouldn’t know what until he woke up. They put him in the captain’s cabin, leaving Pan behind to keep watch on him, while Sarah and Hook went back to the main deck to dispose of the bodies.

They couldn’t do much, simply toss them over the railing and hope they sank, but no such luck. Each body would splash and rock as the water was disturbed, but once the ripples calmed, they would just float by the ship, grim reminders of what had happened. It took the better part of an hour to clear the deck, between Sarah’s shoulder wound and Hook’s lack of a right hand, all they could do is grab an arm and a leg and tug till they got them to the plank. From there it was just a shove of the boot and a splash. They were just shoving the last body overboard when Hook stilled, the color draining from his face as a ticking began to echo around the ship.

“Surely not. You were swimming freely out there not three hours ago.” Sarah looked over the edge of the ship, incredulity and terror warring inside her.

“We weren’t alone then. It is a clever beast, wouldn’t want to take on a whole school of mermaids.” He took several large steps back from the railing, leaning against the mast for support as his knees began to shake. He hated how this one creature could reduce him to such a state, cowering on his own vessel, but it was something that was out of his control.

“Hey, he’ll have to work to get to you. I’m sure it’s just all the bodies that attracted him. There’s a lot of blood in that water right now.” Just as she finished talking, there was a bump against the hull and the sound of jaws snapping shut below them. “There, see, it’s not here for you.” She knelt beside him, holding him close. He would be lying if he said it didn’t alleviate the fear a little. He took a moment to regain control of himself before standing and walking purposefully toward the door to his cabin. He would put an end to this if it killed him. He’d heard what the mermaids had said to Sarah. “The ship must sail” they’d said, and he was all too ready for that.


	14. A Plan And A Scheme

Sarah stroked the old man’s cheek softly, her eyes swimming with tears she wouldn’t allow herself to shed. He looked terrible. Gone was the jolly face of the old fat man who had nursed her back from the brink of death. In its place was a half-starved, gaunt, wrinkled visage that told of all the fear and pain he had suffered since she had gone. She knew that it wasn’t her fault, she hadn’t chosen to let Pan stab her, but if she hadn’t gone charging onto the deck that day, if she had just stayed put and dealt with her problems like the adult she always pretended to be, then he would still be safe.

“Oh Smee, I’m so sorry.” She put her head down on the bed next to the man’s arm, closing her eyes as the urge to cry became too much to hold back. She stayed that way for what felt like forever, the light slowly fading out of the room as night fell, but she didn’t sleep, she couldn’t. She hadn’t been able to get a single wink of sleep since the battle two days earlier. She kept seeing the men’s’ faces, twisted and ugly with a rage that wasn’t their own. Their blood was on her hands. All of this was on her now. She had brought evil to Neverland and sullied the purest of childhood dreams. 

“When is the last time that you slept?” Hook’s voice floated over to her from the door. It was still surprising how simply acknowledging his presence and her feelings for him made her feel so much stronger. She wasn’t alone anymore. 

“The beach, before we surfaced.” She sat up, sniffling softly and brushing the last of the tears from her cheeks.

“Sarah. You need to rest.” He sounded so clinical, so authoritative. It called to mind their first conversation and made her laugh softly.

“Is that an order, Captain?” She turned in her chair, smiling weakly at him, trying to ignore the shock that flitted over his features. “Is it that bad?” She put a hand to her face, feeling the slight indentation under her eyes and the mass of tangles and blood that served as her hair.

“Do you want me to lie?” He stepped closer, moving another chair to the bedside.

“Please.” She sighed, beginning to work her hands through the tangles around her face.

“Well in that case, you are a hideous excuse of a woman and I want you off my ship.” He grinned, gently turning her around in her chair.

“What...oh. Yeah, I definitely love you now.” She closed her eyes as chills sprang up over her scalp, originating from the cool metal of his hook slowly passing through her hair. “Ya know, when my dad told me the story of Hook and Pan, he would always add in a line about you using your hook for “homely” things like hair combing. I never thought he was right.” She laughed softly, feeling her eyelids grow heavy.

“While I wish I could claim otherwise, I do not wake up looking this handsome.” His voice was low and soft. It made her wonder if he was enjoying this as much as she was.

“Oh, this I know. I’ve seen you when you first wake up. Remember?” She let a little hint of a promise creep into her voice. They had hardly touched since coming back to the surface and, if she was being completely honest with herself, certain parts of her were beginning to miss him.

“I can vaguely recall.” His voice dropped still lower, entering into that slightly graveled tone that he knew went straight to her core.

“Only vaguely? I was hoping I made more of an impression.” She allowed a dramatic sigh to escape her chest, her back arching slightly with the action. Hook, apparently tired of the tame conversation, spun the whole chair around and pulled her into his lap, capturing her lips in a searing kiss.

“You have done far more than that my dear.” His eyes were burning with desire, the middles of his blue irises slowly beginning to bleed red.

“I didn’t know they did that when you’re turned on?. She quirked an eyebrow, pulling one side of her lips up into a smirk as she settled herself more comfortably on his lap.

“I pray you never again experience their other cause.” His face darkened for a moment as the dream sprang up unbidden within his mind but her lips on his was more than enough to bring his attention back to the present.

“Blimey! Don’t tell me it got you too cap’n!” Smee’s voice broke into their little world, effectively shattering the mood and sending Sarah into a fit of laughter that had her burying her face in Hook’s shoulder.

“No, Mr. Smee, I am in my right mind. Ms. Darling and I have simply…grown fond of each other.” This only served to confuse Smee and redouble Sarah’s giggles, muffled by his curls. “As for you, if you insist on wiggling so, would you kindly not do it on my lap?” He muttered this last part in her ear, enjoying the vibration of her body against his.

“I…would move….but…I can’t breathe.” She tried to push herself up but a squawk of comprehension from Smee sent her right back down onto his shoulder. This proved to be too much for Hook as he too began to laugh, a deep rumbling sound that Smee hadn’t heard in years.

After a few more minutes of laughter and muttered curses, Sarah was finally able to extricate herself from her lover and settle back into her own seat, leaning instead on the mattress of the bed as she caught her breath, her face slightly red from lack of breath. Hook looked at her, hair now tamed and falling in gentle waves around her head and shoulders, face flushed with life and happiness for the first time in days and had to remind himself of the third party in the room. Every fiber of his being wanted to take her there and then on whatever flat surface he could get to first, but he knew that there were more important matters to tend to before that could happen.

“Alright, sorry, haven’t slept much. How are you feeling?” Sarah had turned her chair back to face the bed and was leaning over, her face soft and concerned. It struck Hook that he never thought to ask about her relationship with Smee. She seemed to see him as some sort of father figure, though why that would be was a mystery to him. It was something that had been in the back of his mind since he had first met her. He’d been watching the pair of them before he had made his presence known. It was something he did often; gauge a situation before he put himself in it. He had seen how gentle Smee had been with the woman when she’d first woken up, coaching her through the first few moments of her return to life as she tried to move too fast. It was probably that moment that drew his attention to her. She’d shown strength even then, broken as she was; she was still trying to stand on her own. 

“Oh, s’alright by me. It’s good to see you laughing love. So, you’re alright then?” His eyes wandered down to her covered torso.

“All healed, well, mostly. We’ve had a couple adventures of our own and, if you’re feeling up to it, we need your help.” She smiled softly down at him, dabbing a cloth against his head as she spoke, cleaning away the last of the dirt and grime from his stay in the hold.

“My help? Whatcha need from me?” His eyes went from peaceful to wary in a second.

“Mr. Smee. Who else has asked for your help?” Hook stood, his eyes suddenly dark.

“It was that black fella, Toby or whatever he’s called. He came here, when all this began, said he needed what I knew. I wouldn’t tell him so he branded me traitor and set the crew on me.” He pulled up his sleeve, showing the ugly welt of a burn in the shape of a T, encompassed in a roughly drawn circular wound that had just begun to scab over.

“Oh god!” Sarah stood, moving quickly to her bag and grabbing a bottle of alcohol and some gauze and tape. “You should’ve mentioned this when you first woke up Smee, it’s already infected.” She sat back in her chair, pulling his arm closer to her and lifting it slightly, getting better light on the wound so she could see just what the damage was. The wound itself was fairly small, but almost the entire thing was infected and weeping a combination of clear plasma and milky white pus. It didn’t have much of smell but the skin was red and angry looking, slightly raised and stretched. 

“Blast it! What can you do Sarah?” Hook felt an unfamiliar fear creep into his heart. He had always viewed Smee like a mole or skin discoloration as far as importance in his crew, something that didn’t do much, good or ill, but that had always been there. Now he realized that it was far more than that. Smee had always been his most loyal man, never wavering from any order, never backing down from a fight and always there to warn him and take care of him when he was too distraught, drunk, depressed or enraged to do so himself. Smee was as much his father as the old sea dog his mother had married. The thought of something happening to him, something like a blood infection or loss of a limb, it caused him a kind of pain that was all but foreign to him.

“I’ll need you to puncture the skin in several places. This whole area is infected and one pin prick isn’t gonna get it all out. Now Smee, this is gonna hurt, really really bad. I’m sorry, there’s nothing I can do about it, but it won’t last long alright?” She watched as he nodded, clearly afraid. She took hold of his arm, one hand on either side of the wound and pushed the skin inward, forming a small bubble of pressure around the infected tissue. “Alright Hook, now.” She moved to the side as James lowered his hook to Smee’s skin, pushing several punctures into the skin that all immediately began to vent pus. Smee let out a screech of pain and bit down on his sleeve. Sarah began to murmur apologies as she applied more pressure, wiping the infection away with the same small towel she’d been dabbing his head with.

Finally, the wound was cleaned out. She bathed it in alcohol, several times, whispering small comforts to Smee the whole time. When it was finally clean and bandaged, Smee looked as if he might pass out again any moment. Sarah chanced a look over at her lover, shocked to see the concern and anger clouding his face. Smee seemed to notice it too because his face relaxed into the familiar wrinkly smile she’d come to know and love.

“Cap’n, I know ya need me and all, but if it’s all the same ta you, I feel in need of rest.” His voice sounded quiet and old, something Sarah had never noticed before.

“Of course Mr. Smee, we understand and will leave you to rest.” He stood, Sarah moving in perfect tandem as they both left the room, shutting the door and trying to ignore the sound of sobs coming from the other side.

“So, all those in favor of murdering the ever loving hell out of Toby next time we see him?” Her hand shot into the air, her face spreading into a slightly evil grin as the sound of metal sinking into wood let her know Hook’s answer.

“But first, Ms. Darling, I believe you were making promises a moment ago that you never got the chance to keep.” He turned to her, jerking his hook out of the railing of the ship and stalking toward her. It brought to mind all the times she’d been afraid of that stance, the dominance of his posture, and it sent a thrill through her that had her grinning wickedly and stepping back slowly.

“Was I? I don’t recall.” She smirked, using his own words as a shield.

“Oh no? Allow me to remind you.” He pulled her into a kiss, rough and deep, pinning her between the door to the cabin and his own body. She allowed him a moment of victory before knocking his arms away and sliding away from him, jumping the railing and taking off across the deck.

She heard a growl behind her as she moved and chanced a look back. He was hot on her heels, expertly navigating the fallen ropes and pieces of decking that they still hadn’t cleared away. She could tell that he knew exactly what she was doing. Those chases and fights they used to have, back when all that mattered was playing keep away with each other. She knew he was remembering them just as much as she was and she wondered if it affected him nearly as much as it did her to be replaying them now.

Hook, for his part, was showing remarkable restraint. He was not a man to be teased, in any aspect of his life. It was what had led him to piracy to begin with. He had seen too many treasures glinting at him from the horizon and decided he would have them. Now it was Sarah glinting at him, teasing him with those hips, swaying with every step, her eyes, barely visible through a curtain of that soft hair he so loved, shining with amusement as she gained ground on him. The vixen, she knew what this would do to him, knew that he was a hunter at heart and could never resist a chase or a fight. She would pay in spades when he caught her. He leapt over a fallen mast, landing within grabbing distance of her coat and seized the material with his hook, yanking it enough to throw her off her balance.

“Oh dear, hung up on something are we Ms. Darling?” He pulled her back to him, walking slowly forward so that when she finally fell back, it was against his chest, his free arm coming up to hold her in place. “You appear to be caught my dear.” His voice was a perfect mimic of the tone he used to use when he would belittle her. It sent shivers of pleasure through him to see it affect her so differently now.

“Must’ve been a stray bit of metal, no matter, I can get out easy enough.” She wiggled back against him, catching him by surprise enough to be able to slip out of both her coat and his hold at the same time, her body bending in ways no human should be able to and setting a fire burning in his belly as he thought of all the ways he could make her twist. She lunged forward, swearing as his hand closed over her leg and pulled her sharply back to him, his weight pinning her down.

“Now now love, that was rude. I was talking.” He lowered himself down onto her, nothing but his arms and his desire to drive her out of her mind with need keeping him from crushing her entirely. He was expecting a retort, some kind of verbal barb or innuendo, as was her usual in this situation, but instead, all he got was a look of pure heat. It promised so many deliciously intimate tortures that he found his resolve to make her wait all but gone.

“James, you shouldn’t say things like that. It can do things, very naughty things, to the right woman.” Her mouth twisted into a grin, sending another flood of sparks and need through him. He didn’t think he would be able to wait much longer and knew she couldn’t either.

“Now, a bad man, a man with no…honor, would use that to his advantage. He would make his woman squirm. He would make her beg, before he would let her have any relief. And as you know, Ms. Darling, I am a very bad man.” He grinned down at her, parting her legs with his own and pressing his arousal into hers, watching as her jaw tightened and her pupils dilated, her eyes almost black by this point. “Gods above, you are beautiful.” He leaned down, capturing her reply in a kiss, growling as he felt her legs lock against his back.

“You are a very bad man James Hook, but you know something else? I am a very bad woman too.” She arched her hips up, rolling them against his very evident erection, arching her back at the delicious friction it caused, shamelessly using him for her own pleasure. She knew she was pushing it, that he was close to snapping, but she didn’t care, the teasing had always been her favorite part.

“You tread on dangerous ground woman. You never tease a pirate, not with something he truly wants.” His voice vibrated against her throat, his lips mere centimeters away from the soft skin. It made her shiver and still, wondering what he had in mind as punishment for her “insolence”. She didn’t have to wait long. Within just seconds her body stilling, his teeth bit down on the flesh of her neck hard enough to bruise and he began sucking and stroking the skin with his tongue. It sent shock waves through her body and she found herself whimpering. She cursed him silently, hating the sound of weakness coming from her.

The answering growl was more than enough to send her over the edge. She no longer cared about the game, all she wanted was him. She wanted him under her, those powerful muscles pushing her off the ground, holding her hips down as he thrust up into her, filling her completely. But then, she wasn’t in a position to be dictating. She realized this just about when Hook slowly brought her up into his lap, a dark smirk painted on his face.  
“Tell me, Ms. Darling, how patient are you?” His voice dripped with promise.

“Not at all. Please James, don’t make me wait. I need you.” She put her arms around his neck, hoping to appeal to the new sense of love they shared. It was a tactic that had worked with old boyfriends, but there was no one like James Hook.

“My poor love, are you done playing? Well I’m afraid I’m not, and seeing as you started this little game, I think it only fair that you be gracious and wait until I finish.” He stroked a finger down her back, letting her melt against him as she slid slowly off his lap. She didn’t realize the position she was in until James pulled her face up to meet his. She had come to rest against his stomach, the muscles jumping under skin and shirt as she pressed against them. “You know something have done for me? I have had it done, by others, though they were hardly what one could call satisfactory. You are better.” He grinned, his eyes passing between the tented fabric of his pants and her lips. She felt a spark of heat as understanding dawned on her. By the gods, this man was devious! She grinned, backing up enough for him to begin to unlace his trousers.

She guided him over to one of the overturned barrels of liquor, long drained and dry. She pushed him gently so that he settled on the barrel and she made quick work of belt and pants both, pulling his manhood free of the fabric.   
She watched him watching her as she slowly began to work him over, starting soft and slow and moving faster and faster until his hands were clenched into fists against the wood of the barrel. She grinned, her lips inches from where he truly wanted them to be and refused to move another inch, settling for tormenting him the way he was tormenting her. It wasn’t until his eyes flew open, blood red and burning that she knew she’d pushed him too far. She felt a hand fist in her hair, pushing her forward. To his credit, he didn’t force her all the way down, merely about an inch or so in and then seemed content to let her show him what she could do, and she didn’t disappoint.  
Her tongue danced over him, running in long lines across the velvety skin, her cheeks hollowed out to create more of the suction he seemed to love. She sunk slowly lower and lower, taking him in further and further until he was brushing the back of her throat. She swallowed around him; enjoying the shocked gasp it earned her as the hand returned. She knew what it meant and obliged, swallowing a few more times, her tongue playing along the underside of his base as her hands scratched little trails in his thighs.

This didn’t continue for long. As previously stated, Sarah was no amateur. Hook soon found himself on the brink of spoiling all their fun, but he wasn’t ready to give her what she truly wanted just yet. She had been a wicked tease after all and deserved more punishment that what had been given. They still had several hours yet till Pan returned from the Indian Village and he intended to use every moment he could.

“That was most…enjoyable, love. But I’m afraid you are still being quite rude. That was intended as a punishment you know, and you have clearly been enjoying yourself far too much. I regret to say that I must now think of another punishment for you.” He affected a look of true regret, tucking himself back into his pants and tying them loosely. He grinned at the noise of pure frustration that came from her but decided to focus instead of ridding himself of his coat and shirt.

Once he was properly divested, a calculated decision to play on her love of his physique, he motioned for her to stand, taking her into the relative cover of the storage decks, spreading out a canvas cover for them both to lay on. She made to lie down and he held out his hand, motioning for her to come over to him.

“You are being a right bastard, do you know that? A right fucking bastard.” She growled, glaring daggers at him as he ran his hand softly through her hair.

“No love, the fucking is still a long ways off.” The tone and ease with which he said it sent another bolt of desire straight to her core and she growled.

“Prick.”

“One track mind love? Perhaps you can’t wait as long as I thought.” He chuckled softly, the sound rumbling in his chest. “Are we quite finished? I only asked you over to give you a kiss and ask you to get more comfortable. For all your begging, you are still wearing far too much.” His voice had returned to that cocky tone she’d learned to hate and she found her hand moving before she could stop it. But it was stopped, midair, by the strong grip of the pirate captain, his eyes back to their icy blue but still burning. “I wouldn’t do that love.” He swept a leg out from under her, guiding her to the ground, her hand still held in his as his hook cut slowly through her tank top. She drew in a breath, the actions so reminiscent of their recent past that she found genuine fear mixing with the pleasure of his dominance. 

“It was…an accident. Promise. Reflexes.” She gasped as his grip tightened, stopping on just the right side of pain. So he remembered those few minutes against the wall then. Damn.

“Oh I have no doubt, but even accidents get punished.” He pinned her arm under his torso, his hand ghosting down over her skin, stopping at her lace encased breasts just long enough to make her anticipate his touch before moving on. He laughed softly at her whimpers, burying his head in the crook of her neck as she had done to him when Smee woke. He felt her still as he grazed her skin with his teeth, his hand continuing its slow journey down to the top of her jeans. He hated the damn things, so tight, showing off every curve, they were damned distracting. But they would serve in his favor this time. “Is this where you want me love? Is this what you need?” He slid his hand just below fabric, toying with the top seam of her panties as she whimpered and nodded her head frantically.

He chuckled against her skin, sliding his hand past the second layer of fabric and slipping on finger into her folds, finding the little nub that drove her wild. He knew of the female anatomy, intimately, was even a self-professed savant when it comes to the art of pleasing a woman, but he had never seen such a reaction to such a light touch. He had barely begun when she was arching up off the floor, keening moans echoing around them. It gave him a surge of pleasure to know that he had done this to her. He continued his torture, stopping only when she was on the brink of release.

“No…please…don’t stop.” Her voice sounded so small and breathy that she might’ve been a drowning victim. It was delicious. He remembered all of the plans he had in his pursuit of her, how he had promised to himself that he would make her beg for it in the end. 

“But I don’t want our fun to be over so soon. No, I think I will let you calm down, but you are still wearing far too much. Tell me, how attached are you to these trousers of yours?” He shifted, his hand moving out of her pants and gathering her hands above her head. He smiled as he slid the edge of his hook under the dense material.

“Don’t you dare. I am running low on clothing thanks to that little habit of yours.” Her voice was soft but serious, despite the grin on her face.

“Did you ever stop to think that maybe it was deliberate?” He sliced down, shredding the closure and most of the front panel. She hissed as he caught her skin in a couple places, but it wasn’t the hiss of pain, or at least, not purely pain. Her eyes drifted open, looking at him with so much frustration and need that he felt the rest of his plan beginning to unravel. “You know how to make this stop don’t you?” He broke eye contact, his eyes sweeping over her increasingly exposed form. He grinned, spotting some rope just beside them and grabbed it, wrestling her back down as she tried to gain dominance, tying her securely to the support post behind her head.

“You planned this whole thing, didn’t you? Are you waiting for me to beg love? Say pretty please and let you have me? Have I earned that much punishment?” Her voice was like liquid sex to him and he felt himself begin to physically ache for her as he grabbed the material with hook and hand both and ripped it away from her.

“Actually, I believe it was you who started this and you who have led us here. This is your own doing, Sarah, and you will only gain release when I hear you beg.” He slashed through her panties, his hand resuming its torture as she began to writhe, the rope pulling taught almost instantly. It didn’t take long for her to reach the brink, it was a thing of beauty to see her muscles bunch and tense under her skin, her back arching almost double as she sought her release. But once again, she was denied.

“God damn you James!” She leveled a searing glare at him.

“Such language, I should silence you I think.” He plunged two fingers into her without warning, relishing the tight warmth of her. He longed to be buried inside her, ached for it, but he would have his victory first. He watched as she gasped, her head falling back as her body came back up off the floor.

“Please, of gods James, please. I need you!” Her voice was weak and breathy by this point, he almost didn’t hear her, but the plea shot through him to the core of his desire. He laughed softly, pulling his fingers from her and leaning down, kissing her deeply as he freed himself from his trousers. He positioned himself on his knees between her legs, hooking a leg over each of his hips.

“As you wish my love.” He plunged into her, sinking in to the hilt. She was so damn tight, her muscles clenching around him as he withdrew. She was beautiful, her body was bent in almost a perfect arc and the sounds coming from her were almost enough to push him over the edge. She was reciting a constant plea, and he knew exactly what she needed. He bent over her, driving himself into her over and over again, harder and faster each time as she hurtled toward her climax. He still had a hand on her hips, steadying her as her body jolted forward with each thrust. It was glorious. 

She was so close, he could feel her muscles tensed and ready, quivering, but something was holding her back. He changed his angle, capturing one pert nipple between his teeth as he stroked against that one spot all women have. He felt her shudder and groan, her body inching slowly toward heaven. He knew what she needed, what she wanted. He leaned forward further, flattening his chest against hers, hiking her legs up even higher on his hips, pushing him deeper inside her than he’d ever been. He captured her lips in a kiss, feeling his own climax nearing; he slashed his hook down through the ropes binding her hands. He trailed frantic kisses down her cheek and neck, stopping by her ear as he felt his own body tense.

“Come with me love.” His voice was little more than a growl, gruff and quiet, but it was enough to send her screaming over the edge, her arms circled around him, her nails digging into his shoulders as she arched up against him. He followed almost immediately, his member slamming into her with bruising force as he emptied himself into her. 

There was no pillow talk afterward, no banter or light sarcastic flirting. It had been more than just sex, more than making love. It was healing. It was venting. It was proof that safety still existed and that they could both still trust in at least one person. So they slept, deeply and dreamlessly, for the first time in a month, they slept and rested.

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So close, he was so close. Just a few more and then he would rule this island at its roots. He would be able to bring about the destruction he so longed to inflict on that cocky little bitch and destroy everything that had ever made her good. Once he’d taken away her precious captain and her childhood play land, she would see that he was the only one who knew who she truly was. He would strip away all the barriers and layers she’d put around herself, get to the meat of her being and then devour it. He would possess her as he possessed all these little forsaken souls. He would swallow her whole, just as he had done them.

It was so quiet now. No screams, no cries and no little bodies moving around. But there was screaming. Who was screaming? Who was left to scream? His eyes raced around the cavern, his misshapen form slipping on the small pillars as he sought out the source of the noise. It had to be so close. It was so loud! Who was screaming?! The cavern was empty, he knew it was empty; he had eaten all the babies. They were all inside him now, part of him, their strength slowly being absorbed into his own. He should be happy. So why was he screaming?

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Pan approached the Indian village slowly. He hadn’t seen them since the madness had left him and, while he couldn’t remember exactly what he had done; he knew that he would not be welcomed back. He didn’t want to fight and knew that if he simply landed in their midst, it would spark a confrontation. He had landed a few yards off so that they could see him coming, hands in the air and no weapons on his person. He knew that if he could only talk with them; explain things, he could convince them to get to safety, though he didn’t know exactly where safety was. He didn’t even know what they were running from, simply that things were about to get very bad and if they remained where they were, it would be the end of them all.

“Stop there boy. You are not welcome here.” The guard was quick to pounce, spear point at Peter’s throat before he could even dodge.

“I know. I didn’t think I would be. I come with a warning. I need to speak with the Chieftain.” He hated how different he sounded now. He was starting to sound like one of them, a grown up.

“Issue your warning to me and then be gone. We do not want your madness here.” The guard, a young brave of maybe sixteen, was as green and Peter had once been. He was scared and let it show far too easily.

“I am under no influence. It has left me.” He tried to sound sane, though how exactly one goes about sounding sane was a mystery to him. The guard looked at him closely, holding his gaze for an awkward amount of time before he moved, taking the spear from his neck and signaling for the gates to be opened. “Thank you. I won’t stay long.” Peter walked through the gates, ignoring all the looks and whispers that followed him. It hurt him to see all his play mates shy away from him now, but he had business to see to so he pushed it away from his mind and entered the Chieftain’s tent with his head held high.

“Young Pan, good to see you free of the shadow. Grey Hawk tells me you come with a warning.” The Chieftain was a gruff man, older, graying hair and skin like wrinkly leather from years in the sun.

“The Island is overcome. The shadow, a demon named Tobias, has settled in the roots of the mountain and is corrupting the land from within. Sarah tells me that she has seen the destruction of Neverland. She says the mountain will explode and flood us all in fire and ash. I am here to beg that you leave your village and seek a safer shelter. I will help with whatever I can, I know some safe places by the water, but you mustn’t stay here.” He tried to keep the desperation out of his voice but knew that, to an old man like the Chieftain, he probably sounded like a hysterical child.

“We have seen the destruction. Our seer had a vision two nights ago. We will not move. We have faith young Pan, that your Sarah will destroy the evil she has brought on us all. We thank you for your concern and the warning, but we will remain as we always have. Now go, you are needed elsewhere.” Grey Hawk wasted no time in hustling Pan out of the tent, standing in front of its entrance as Peter looked like he might storm back in and make demands. He stood for a moment, impotent rage coursing through him like lead in his veins, making him sick, but he knew that there was nothing more to be done. He thought of the time before Sarah’s arrival, it seemed like ages, when all he had to do was shrug and fly off. No feelings had ever stuck with his for long back then. There seemed to be something about the Darling women that affected him, made him grow, whether he wanted to or not. First there had been Wendy, full of fire and expectations, she had introduced him to sorrow and loneliness. Now there was Sarah, pulling him into the light of maturity, responsibility and regret, whether he wanted to be there or not.

He huffed, kicking off from the ground hard enough to hurt as he sailed into the air. The Mountain was still belching smoke, but it seemed to have sped up. Whatever was coming, it was coming soon. Sarah was trying, he could tell, but she was going too slow. Like all adults, she needed someone around to push her to go faster, make her see the urgency of life. He would be that someone, just as he had been to Hook, though he hadn’t known it at the time. He would make her see how dire her life truly was, and with luck, he would perhaps bring it some light again. He nodded, taking a deep breath and shedding all the worry that was weighing him down. He would need all his speed and skill for this next trick. He smiled, feeling the old fire of adventure rekindle in his chest as he turned toward the ship, now blessedly free of bodies thanks to that old crocodile, and shot off at top speed. It was time to give the old folks a shock


	15. The Beginning Of The End

The sound of crowing startled Hook from sleep, his arm slashing out in the air in a reflex that had saved his life on more than one occasion. The sound of it sinking into a support beam shook him to his senses and the events of the last several days came flooding back. He sighed, pulling his hook from the wood, now twice gouged, and settled back down beside the warmth and softness that was the still sleeping Sarah Darling. He pulled her close, a dull apprehension beginning to ache in his chest, coupling with an almost inexplicable need to keep her close and safe today.

She sighed against his skin, nuzzling closer to his chest as the tarp slid from her body, revealing the pale skin of her hips and back. He grinned, feeling the rest of his body begin to wake up as the tarp slid down further. He reached down, intending to wake her with a surprise, but that damned crowing sounded again, much closer, and he felt her stir against him, groaning as the sound reverberated around them.

“I hate that kid sometimes.” She mumbled, her lips tickling the skin beneath them.

“My dear, I hate him all the time. I could kill him if you like.” He ran his hook down her back slowly, grinning down at her as she scowled up at him.

“Don't even think about it.” She tried to sit up away from him, knowing the smoldering look he was giving her all too well.

“Please clarify, to which idea are you referring?” He pulled her harder against his chest.

“You know very good and well what I'm referring to. He's almost here, and thanks to you I have nothing to wear. I have just enough time to get to the room and get dressed before he gets here. Which means we have no time to do any of the things you are currently considering. Now let me up or I'll hurt something vital.” She tried to look threatening, like she would carry through on her threat, but his answering grin told her she was failing miserably.

“My dear, you are far too fond of those particular parts of me to ever harm them, and I must add that you currently look as threatening as a kitten so might I suggest you use another strategy to gain your freedom?” His grin changed to a full on smirk, her body answering his unspoken offer with enthusiasm. She growled softly, looking down at the deck boards to get her mind out of the gutter enough to think.

“Hook, let me up, please.” She took a calming breath as his hand stayed firmly in place.

“And what will I get in return? You realize you are asking me to give up a wonderful bed companion and offering nothing as incentive, hardly a fair deal.” He moved her as he spoke, pulling her from his side to his lap so that she was draped across him, the tarp all but forgotten. His eyes trailed over her body as goose bumps rose up everywhere, the air having turned chill during their impromptu nap. It did wonderful things to her breasts and he found himself wanting to play with them to see what other reactions he could get out of her.

“If you let me up, I swear to let you have your way with me later. After we save the world and all that.” She smirked, using a hand to push his face up to meet hers.

“Oh, now that is tempting,” He grinned, pushing her down to the floor, pinning her there, hook at her throat, “but I could do that now. As we've seen, I am far more powerful than you and I have no qualms with using my strength to get exactly what I want.” He growled, grinding his growing arousal against her still bare center.

“Ass.” Her response trailed off into a hiss as he increased the pressure on her most sensitive spot. His only response was a deep-throated chuckle as he lifted himself away from her. He pulled her from the floor, kissing her hard before pushing her softly toward the entrance. She laughed softly, grabbing the tarp and wrapping it around herself. 

“Oh, just so you know, I will be taking you up on that offer of yours later. After all, it has been far too long since I had you helpless in my bed.” He grinned, watching the color flush to her skin as she walked away. 

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Pan knew far more of life than anyone gave him credit for. He'd seen many things that a boy his age never should, both in his world and at the windows of the homes in London. He knew what adults got up to when they were left alone. Part of him wished to just go to the lower decks and rest, leave them to it for a while, but the new found responsibility in him wouldn't allow it, so he gave them fair warning, crowing often and loudly as he came closer and closer to the ship.

As he neared the ship, he saw a tarp clad figure slide into the guest bedroom, had to be Sarah, and Hook, standing in nothing but his trousers and boots, leaning against the door frame that led to the storage alcove on the main deck. He didn't look happy. Pan drew his sword as he landed on the chilly wood planks, just as a precaution.

“Relax boy, I have been made to promise I will not harm you until this business is finished. But if you interrupt us again, I will break that promise most gladly.” Hook snarled at him, stalking past him toward the captain's cabin.

“Hook wait...” He sheathed his sword, walking up to the pirate slowly, feeling a strange weight in his chest as he looked toward the metal for which the pirate was named. He had to struggle for a moment, his boyish nature and new found emotions warring with each other as he tried to find the right words. “I...I'm sorry. When this is over, if you'll have it, I would like to call a truce between us.” He extended his hand, holding his breath as he watched the eyes of the older man. Hook was very good at keeping back his emotions, but they were currently warring behind those ice blue irises, tinting them purple around the pupil as they tried to bleed red.

“I will consider your offer, though I make no promises as to my answer, there is a great deal we both must answer for.” He turned, not accepting the hand shake, but also leaving the hand itself intact. Peter watched him walk away, feeling the heaviness increase, spreading to his stomach as well. It felt horrible, no wonder adults were always so cranky. 

He sighed, sinking down on the decks and pulling out his last knife and piece of carving wood. He'd done what he could to jog them into action, interrupting their little bit of play time, and all he could do now was wait for them to come to it on their own. He knew better than to try and force Hook's hand, it never ended well.

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Hook found Sarah half dressed behind a screen. He still didn't know where she'd found it, but she'd insisted it be put in the spare room until Smee was well enough to take it over himself, in which case it would be moved to Hook's room. She'd since added a caveat to that demand, after all, a dressing screen wasn't needed if there was no crew. 

“Hello lover.” Her tone was heavy with sarcasm and he saw her shadow momentarily pause as he closed the door behind him.

“Lover am I?” He grinned, walking up to the screen, letting his boots thunk loudly against the wood with every step.

“Oh I'm sorry, would you prefer a more threatening nickname? I could always keep calling you Hook if you would like that better.” She grinned, stepping around the dressing screen in nothing but her skinny jeans and a black bra. His eyes followed her as she walked across the room, her hips swaying just a bit too much, toward her suitcase.

“While it is a rather apt descriptor, I think I would prefer something a little less formal, unless you would rather I begin calling you Darling.” He watched her bend down, grabbing out a shirt and jacket from her case, noticing that her pants had still not been buttoned. The minx, she was taunting him. He couldn't quite repress his laughter as she straightened up, looking at him incredulously. 

“If you ever call me that, I will kill you.” She grinned, tossing her black shirt and jacket onto the bed, bending down again to continue digging through her belongings. It was all he could do not to pin her to the wall then and there and divest her of her clothing as violently as possible. She knew what she was doing to him, the bloody little tease.

“Very well, then shall we simply go by names for now? Until such time as we find something more...suitable, to call one another?” He walked closer behind her. She straightened, her body suddenly aligned with his perfectly so that the heat of his back warmed her chilled skin.

“Sounds good.” She grinned, turning so that her breasts brushed against his chest before stepping around him. She made quick work, of getting ready, something he had to exert a great deal of self control to allow, and when he turned around, she was zipping up her black boots. She stood, her hands already going through her hair, pulling it up into a tight bun. She looked like she was preparing for battle, and it dawned on Hook that she very well might be. Perhaps she was feeling the apprehension and fear that was still plaguing him.

“Sarah, I must ask a serious question. When you woke, did you feel different? Did you feel as though this day were significant somehow?” He walked closer to her, suddenly needing to have her at his side.

“Yeah, I just figured it was the volcano, damn things make me nervous. Wait, you feel it too?” She looked up at him, her face guarded. 

“I have felt a strange apprehension since Pan woke me with his insufferable crowing. I feel the need to protect you, hold you. I cannot explain it. I need you as close as possible and safe. I fear that today is all we have left.” He pulled her to his chest, all but crushing her with his arms.

“James, oh James. It's alright. I'm not going anywhere.” She pulled away, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him close. “I'm here, right here, and I'm fine. Today may very well be it, but as long as we've got this, we'll be fine.” She felt a strange pulling, like she was caught in a very weak undertow, but ignored it, filing it away under random ship movement. She felt him squeeze her one more time before releasing her and standing straight, his face set back into it's normal mask of cocky self assurance.

“Go keep the boy company while I find something more suitable to wear.” He grinned, bowing to her slightly before striding from the room. She watched him go with a sigh and following him out after she loaded up her pockets with whatever she might need. She had two utility knives, cigarettes and a lighter, lighter fluid, matches, her switch blade and a small key chain flashlight that Lucas had given her just before the conference had started.

The thought of Lucas made her heart lurch uncomfortably, the pulling getting slightly stronger. Was he alright? Was he alive? She'd been so flippant with her search of the tree, just a cursory glance around really. What if he had been hurt, laying there, waiting for her to return and save him as he had once saved her? She felt her heart break a little at the thought, her “mothering instinct” as Lucas said, kicking into high gear. She had to find him. She had to make sure he was okay. Hook wouldn't like it, he wanted her to stay on the ship, but Lucas was her only friend and she couldn't just leave him stranded on an island that was about to die.

She strode quickly out of the door, she had only a few minutes before Hook and Pan both tried to stop her. She saw the boy, sitting against the railing, whittling a block of wood and whistling softly. He seemed so small now, just a kid with a knife and a need for adventure. He didn't deserve this. He didn't deserve to see the demons that all adults hide. She'd come in and ruined his world, and now she was probably going to get him killed. And Hook too. He was no saint, but he didn't deserve this. She should never have come here. She should've stayed in her room that night and let well enough alone. She should've let herself die of those wounds. So many should haves, so many mistakes. 

She laughed softly, bitterness and anger flooding through her. She'd done nothing but fuck up, her whole life, wasted on whims and irresponsibility, and now she was going to drag the people she loved down with her. That thought brought her up short. She didn't have to. She knew where Toby was, she always knew. She could feel him, like a thorn in her side, digging down deep into her soul and infecting it. She would go alone, take him out, save the day and disappear as if she'd never been. She didn't know just how yet, but it was the only way.

She looked over at Pan and then at the captain's door, feeling her heart break at the thought of leaving, and then she took a running leap off the deck, flying swiftly away, hiding in the clouds despite the cold. She would go to the mountain alone.

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Peter was shocked out of his reverie by the sound of footfalls on the boards above him. He watched as Sarah dove over the railing, soaring almost straight up into the clouds, her black clothes blending with them almost instantly. He'd never seen anyone fly so gracefully before. Hook was clumsy at best and the boys had always been more interested in tricks and flips than grace and skill. It gave him a strange sense of pride to know that he'd been the one to teach her how to leave the ground. The glow was replaced almost immediately with an icy sense of dread as the next obvious question presented itself. Where was she going? Why was she alone? 

He gasped, dropping wood and knife both as he ran to the captain's door, pounding on it for all he was worth. She couldn't get far if they left now, they'd catch up to her, surely they would. He jumped away from the door as Hook appeared, gun ready.

“What is it Pan?” He holstered the gun, adjusting his cravat as he stepped out of the door.

“She's gone. I was whittling and then woosh. She dove off the deck and flew away. We have to catch her.” He knew he wasn't making any sense, but the sense of urgency was getting stronger with each passing second.

“She..Sarah? Where?” Hook walked to the railing, his eyes scanning the clouds. “Blast and damn it boy you will tell me where she went immediately or I will open you!” He rounded on Pan, grabbing him by the shoulder and driving him back against the door, hook raised.

“I don't know, she went into the clouds and disappeared. I think she's headed for the mountain. She was crying.” He sounded so small and sad, so like a child that Hook found himself unable to do so much as slap the boy for his incompetence. How could he let her just fly away like that? Idiot child.

“Then to the mountain we shall go.” He rose slowly from the deck boards, his large form looking somehow wrong suspended in the air above Peter. He seemed almost otherwordly now, like something greater than Hook had come into him in that moment. It was then that it struck him, why Hook had been so obsessed with her, protective of her and jealous of him for the attention he'd received. He was in love with her. The thought gave him all the push he needed, filling him with a kind of hope he hadn't known was missing until now.

“Race ya there.” He grinned, shooting off into the clouds, Hook hot on his heels.

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He was climbing, the stone was hot under his hands, boiling the skin away so that he left a trail of black ooze behind him. It hurt, or, it should hurt, but it didn't. He was beyond petty things like pain now. He was beyond such human concerns. He was numb. He knew he had to climb, he knew that his destiny was waiting for him, at the top of the mountain. He had to get to the top of the mountain. So he was climbing

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It was getting hard to breathe. The air was choking and hot. She had to be somewhere near the top of the volcano now, if the ash all around her was anything to go off of. It smelled noxious, like someone had tried to fry a hard boiled rotten egg. Breathing through her shirt helped some, but she still found herself choking with every breath. She sat down against the rock face, trying to recall all she could about volcanoes from her geology classes. The top would be clearer than the surrounded areas, the ash all went up and then ballooned out around the cone. If she could just make it to the top she'd be fine. She started climbing, the stone hot against her hands. It wasn't burning yet, but she knew it would be before the end. If only she could fly, but it would appear that fate wanted her to pay in flesh for the wrongs she'd done this world. So she climbed.

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Pan was the first to notice it, the tremor in the air. It was something that no one else would be able to tell, normally. It was the Island, it was crying. There was something coming, something that had taken its very life. It would come from the mountain. But that wasn't all. He was getting heavy, his body sinking inexorably toward the ground despite his efforts to keep it airborn. He was losing his power to fly. That could only mean one thing.

“Pan, damn it, what's going on?” Hook was beside him, sinking right along side him.

“It's the fairies, they're gone.” He should have felt something. His Tinkerbell was gone, as if she'd never existed. His Island was dying and he would most likely follow it. He should have felt something, but he was numb.

“What do you mean gone? Where did they go?” Hook landed beside him, grabbing him as he stumbled. “Pan damn it talk to me!” But he couldn't talk. He couldn't move or feel. Everything he'd ever known was dying or dead and so he would die too, here, in the arms of his worst enemy. 

A slap rang out around them, followed shortly by another. Pan blinked, his cheeks stinging. He looked up at Hook, his face contorted in rage and fear and felt something. Anger, abject, raging, searing anger. This bastard was part of it. Neverland had been pure and peaceful before this bastard sailed in and got stuck. He screamed, launching himself at the man with every ounce of strength and fury he could muster, intent on ending him if he could.

They fought, both giving all they could as they cleansed themselves of years worth of anger toward the other. By the end, both were bloody and bruised and, for the first time since they'd met, it was just a man and a boy, sizing each other up.

“Are you quite finished?” Hook straightened, pulling his coat off and tossing it away, blood soaked and perferated as it was, it was hardly worth keeping.

“Actually, I think I am. I feel...different now.” Pan straightened, looking down at himself. He felt bigger, like he'd grown, but he didn't look any different.

“You're growing up Pan, different is all you will feel for a while. Now can we please go and find Sarah? Since we can no longer fly, we must climb, and that is going to take a while.” He sighed, tying his hair back in one of Sarah's elastics with a kind of expert grace that had Pan honestly impressed. He nodded, following the man up the rocky face, their path hidden by the choking black dust that surrounded the peak.

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Almost there, he was almost there. Just a little more. His destiny was within his reach. His revenge, his prize. He would have it, have her. She was his! She was so close now he could feel her. She was like a little blue bird that he held between his fingers, quivering as he squeezed. Soon she would trap herself, and it would all be undone.

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The pull was so strong now. It was leading her up. She was so focused on it that she almost missed the figure beside her. It was the groan that alerted her.

“Lucas!” She picked her way over to him, scrambling over the rocks, cuttings knees and palms that were already raw from climbing.

“Sarah?” He turned, his eyes unfocused. 

“Oh god Lucas, what happened to you?” She looked down over his torso, bloody and ragged. It was like he'd been dragged over the asphalt by a truck.

“Fell...was climbing...gonna get home and....and fix it.” He pointed to a rough looking foot path. 

“Oh jesus! Lucas, why didn't you wait for me!” She held him close, her heart pounding quickly as she felt for his pulse. It wasn't strong, but it wasn't weak either. He seemed more tired now than injured, not surprising given what he'd been through.

“Couldn't...couldn't find you.” He sounded so small and dejected. The words struck her heart like a knife. She had abandoned him. She had caused this. She felt tears slide down her cheeks as she openly wept, holding him close and begging forgiveness. It seemed to trigger something in him, waking him from his daze as he clung to her, tears of his own soaking into her shirt.

After what felt like an age, the tears dried and they were left with nothing by awkward hiccups and clinging. Lucas was the first to let go.

“Okay, I have a million questions, and a desperate need for pain killers, but that's going to have to wait. I need to get back up there. Sarah, I figured it out. We can go home!” He smiled up at her as ash swirled around them and she felt her heart break all over again. It seemed to be doing that a lot lately. She didn't know how much more of it she could take.

“That's great! Well let's get you up there then. You're lucky I'm here, better late than never huh?” She tried to force a grin and it seemed to work as Lucas pulled himself up, his arm over her shoulder, one leg held up off the ground. And that was how they continued, leaning on each other as they climbed toward the top of the mountain, their hands blistered and raw. It would all be over soon.

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Hook was seriously beginning to rethink the promise he made to Sarah. Pan was slowing them down. It wasn't his fault, the logical part of Hook's mind knew this and could even commend him for his effort, but the irrational, love sick part of his mind was happily considering different ways to throttle the boy if he didn't climb faster.

Pan, for his part, was feeling pretty good. He was sad, but hopeful that their efforts would make a difference and perhaps things would go back to the way they were before. It was a childish hope, he knew, but this was Neverland, and stranger things had happened.

Hook sighed, resolving to stay where he was for a moment to let the boy catch up. He settled for calling out her name, hoping against hope that they'd come further than he thought and that she would be close. He thought for a moment that he heard a response but as he listened, it wasn't repeated. He called again, his ears straining, but a rumbling tremor drowned out any response there may have been. But as the wind picked up, a figure, still shrouded in smoke, became visible. It was definitely her, he would know her anywhere, and she was carrying someone upward with her. He called her again, the figure stilled but didn't turn, and continued moving after a moment, readjusting her companion so that he was easier to support. 

Why didn't she turn? She'd stopped, she'd heard him. Why run now, after all that's happened? Why turn from him now? He would have his answers. 

“Pan, she is just ahead of us, but does not appear to want our company any further. I say we catch up and ask her just why that is.” He heard a crow from just behind him, the figures ahead both jumped and a small part of Hook laughed. Let her run. If she thought him such an easy thing to cast off then she should run. He was not one to be snubbed, in terms of the shallowest affections, what he felt for her was too deep, too important to lose because she decided to be done with him. And so they struggled upward, gaining ground on the woman and her crippled companion.

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“Damn it Sarah they're gaining on us!” Lucas limped for all he was worth, almost turning his other ankle on a stone as he all but hopped up the mountain side. 

“Yes I can see that thank you.” She muttered, looking back for what felt like the millionth time. She longed to turn around and run to him, fall into his arms and cry with relief that he'd come for her. But she'd made a promise to herself that she would see this through to the end alone, and she was going to do just that. 

A mean little voice in the back of her mind reminded her of her present company and she found herself feeling fresh shame at the betrayal. She would make the trek with Lucas, but not Hook? Did she have so little trust in him that a dream and a small flicker of fear were enough to chase her away? Perhaps Toby had been right. Perhaps she was too ruined to ever be worth loving. 

“Hey, stop it. Whatever you are thinking, just stop. I know that look and while I wish we had time for me to get in your head and play shrink, we don't and I need you here and focused if this is gonna work.” He shook her, almost falling in the process.

“I'm good, I'm here, promise.” She smiled over at him as she pulled him forward. They were almost to the top, the air clearing, the heat rising, the stone almost unbearable to touch. She was gonna make it. She was gonna make it home and restore this place to the wonder it had been before she ruined it. She wouldn't get to say goodbye to Hook, but it was better that way. She felt a small smile grace her features at the thought of her pirate when her foot was suddenly swept out from under her, sending her and Lucas both tumbling to the stones. She couldn't hold onto her breath as her back bounced off a particularly sharp boulder and she found herself trying to choke down air as Hook knelt above her, Pan keeping a dagger trained on Lucas as he groaned, holding onto his ribs as he sat against a rock.

She felt the heat of the rocks against her back, it burned. She focused on the burn, closing her eyes and tears began to race down her cheeks. It only took a moment for her body to regain the ability to breathe, and she gasped in a lung full of searing hot air. It hurt far more than it should, her back and ribs both. It was a pain she knew and it filled her with a kind of dread she couldn't possibly explain. She looked down at her feet as she sat up, twitching them experimentally and sighing in relief as they moved at her command, but her relief was short lived as she was pinned to the boulder behind her by a very angry looking Captain Hook.

“Let me go.” She tried to sound hard, disinterested, anything to hide the fact that asking him to leave was killing her inside.

“I will not. You owe me answers woman and I will have them.” He growled, his irises starting to bleed red.

“James, your eyes...” She reached up, intending to simply touch him, one last caress to say goodbye, but her hand was pinned to the stone by his hook through her sleeve, driven into the stone.

“You left me. No word, no warning, knowing the dream we shared was imminent. Why did you leave? Is it to be with this weakling? Surely that is not it.” His voice was vicious and hard, cutting and condescending all at the same time.

“James please. We don't have time. Let me go and I will explain.” She tried to sound reasonable, but the fact that his eyes were still blood red and glaring told her that he knew better.

“Do not lie to me Sarah. I am showing great restraint in the fact that you are still breathing. You will answer me now or I will make sure you never speak again.” He growled, jerking his hook from from the stone and holding it her face. 

“I left because I couldn't stand to say goodbye and I won't watch you die. That dream came to both of us James, but not identical. I won't be the cause of your death and I won't let Neverland burn all because I have some unresolved issues. Now let me up!” She pushed against him, hiding the grunt of pain as she stood. “I'm sorry James.” She walked over to Lucas, pushing Pan's dagger out of the way and pulling him up. Hook watched, stunned, as she looked back over at him, the light of the fire behind her making her look like a goddess, divine and powerful. It wasn't until she turned away and began walking that he understood what she meant.

“Pan, stop them!” He scrambled to his feet, the stones rolling away under him as Peter ran forward only to be pushed back by some unseen force. He tried again, running at it until he began to bruise. He pulled out his knife, attacking the invisible wall with a fury Hook had never seen, tears streaming down his face. 

“Sarah! Don't leave us! Please! We can help!” His voice sounded broken and ragged. Hook had never seen this kind of passion from the boy before. It was a depth of pain that he thought him incapable of until now and it hurt in a way he didn't expect. He knew that feeling, he felt that feeling, but all he could do was stare, his body frozen as he shouted every plea, platitude and insult he could think of at the retreating back of the woman he loved.

They were almost to the top now, barely visible in the waves of heat coming off the mountain's surface and then they were gone, down into the mouth of the beast to do battle without him. It was over...


	16. Final Battles And Farewells

Sarah was the first to hit the ground, her body bouncing softly against an invisible cushion of air. She had expected heat, or perhaps just an instant of fiery pain followed by death. What she hadn't been expecting was the warm kiss of an ocean breeze against her face. The smell was so familiar, so welcoming and the sounds were not what you would expect to hear inside an active volcano. It wasn't until she heard a small grunt off to her side that she realized she'd closed her eyes during the fall. She took another moment to prepare, breathing deep, taking in the scent of sea air, and opened her eyes.

She was at her old summer house. Lucas lay in the sand beside her, looking around with the same kind of dazed confusion she knew must be on her face. How in all the hells had they come to be here? She hadn't even seen the little sea cottage for years, her father had sold it not long after her twelfth birthday, and she was absolutely certain that it wasn't in the mouth of a volcano, in Neverland. But it was so real. The sand felt warm and soft under her toes, shells glinted in the sunlight and the sound and smell of the ocean was exactly as she remembered it from those summers spent here as a child.

“Sarah? What the hell is happening?” Lucas sounded scared. He'd never seen this place before. She fought down a smile as she settled in the sand, the pieces starting to click together.

“It's my dad's old summer house. He would bring us here when the pressure of writing go to be too much for him. I remember one time, I almost drowned just off shore, right over by that palm tree. I turned a stone with my foot and it trapped me. My dad had to overturn his typewriter to get to me in time.” She smiled, looking around, but it wasn't a smile of happiness. Lucas knew that look. It was what he'd come to call her “you aren't fooling me” smile.

“So, how did we get here?” He couldn't help but smile as well, Sarah always got things done when she had that look.

“My guess? We aren't really here. This is some kind of magic or illusion. Toby started out as a fairy in this world remember? Whose to say that the fairies aren't way more powerful than we thought?” She looked over at him, eyebrow raised, whole body exuding confidence.

“More than you know.” The voice was less preternatural than she had become used to, but it was Toby all the same. 

“So I'm right then? This is an illusion?” She stood, turning to face him where he stood in the arch of the small porch.

“Not exactly, more, a memory. You see Sarah, in this world, I can go wherever I please, so long as pain is there. I believe you were mentioning an unfortunate incident in this place?” He stepped aside and her twelve year old self came running out of the house, her brother not far behind, shouting about who could hold their breath the longest.

“Going to make me relive my own near death are we? Please. I've had worse since then, mostly caused by you.” She crossed her hands over her chest, cocking a hip out as she watched the events unfold. Lucas had tensed, clearly having some personal thought, but he didn't share it so she paid him no mind, too busy tracking the motion of her younger self, waiting for the moment she knew was coming.

“As always, your choice of words is impeccable.” As Toby spoke, young Sarah's head disappeared under the water, her body barely visible, thrashing and bubbling as she struggled to get free. At that same moment, Sarah dropped to the beach, her clothes and skin suddenly soaking wet, her hand at her throat as she struggled to breathe. “Oh don't make such a fuss Sarah, you know you don't die here. Your father comes to save you remember? Oh, but where is your father? Funny how he seems to be missing.” He laughed, the sound soft and sinister, almost Hook like. “Perhaps I could save you?” He walked by her, running his fingers along her cheek. 

Sarah stilled, looking around. He was right, her father was nowhere to be seen. But this was a memory, he had to be. If he wasn't here, it wasn't a memory, it wasn't real. She grinned, relaxing her throat muscles while the figure of her younger self stilled under the water. Lucas let out a cry, looking down to see if she too had gone still, but was met with that same small grin.

“Good try hun, but you seem to have a few things confused. Memories are simply replaying what has already happened, you can't change them. I didn't die, obviously, which means this is just an illusion. Honestly, my best friend is an eclectic Physicist and Sci-Fi writer, did you actually think I wouldn't figure that out? Good shock tactic though.” She flipped her hair over, shaking the water out. As she straightened, she fixed Toby with her best smirk, something she remembered always pissed him off and cocked an eyebrow. “Is that the best you got?” 

“Oh not by far my little mistake. We are far from finished.” He faded and so did the beach scene, the craggy walls of the volcano bleeding through the blue Caribbean skies.

“Well, that was fun.” She dusted her hands off even though there was no sand left on them and sighed, looking over at Lucas. He, for his part, had remained standing, even through the shock of her supposed death, but he looked shakey.

“You call that fun?” His voice cracked as he looked at her, his mind working through the myriad of differences in her from the woman he'd known.

“Hunny, my for all intents and purposes boyfriend is Captain Hook. We're both honorary Lost Boys and we're chasing my demon incarnate ex-boyfriend through an active volcano. Why does that shock you?” She leveled him with a grin and started off down the only path visible. He paused for a moment and then nodded, walking after her as quickly as his busted ankle would allow.

“At least the ground is level here.” He called after her. He watched as she stopped and turned, taking his arm over her shoulder again.

“Sorry, got caught in the moment, forgot you were hurt. You okay?” She looked at him sheepishly.

“Yeah yeah yeah, I'm fine and you're forgiven, let's just go kick this guy's ass huh?” He smiled at her, motioning her forward.

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“Pan, stop before you collapse again. Beating yourself against it will do no good.” Hook sat slumped against a boulder, flask in hand.

“Well it's better than giving up entirely. Where is your honor? Where is your courage? Where is the man that dragged me up this damned mountain all to save her?” Pan was on him in an instant, knocking the flask away and grabbing him by the lapels of his coat.

“My dear boy. Firstly, you do not know the first thing about honor. Secondly, Courage is not something I have in abundance. Thirdly, that woman does not want me to save her, that is apparent. And lastly, if you do not remove your hands from my person, I will see them fed to something far worse than a crocodile.” He took a swipe at Pan, managing only to upset his perch on the boulder and send him tumbling to the ground.

“Well I'm not afraid. I don't care if it kills me, I will get through this barrier and save her.” He turned, launching himself at the invisible force again. Hook, for his part, stayed on the ground, his less the sober mind searching furiously for a way out of this whole mess. Part of him wanted to simply give up and return to his ship, the anchor had broken, he could leave now. But something in him held him back. He wouldn't be able to manage the ship single handedly, and his crew were all dead, some by his own hook. He couldn't leave. So he would save the woman and make her help him leave. But he couldn't get to her through the damned magic. 

That sparked a thought. Magic, it was all magic. Toby's arrival, the poisoning of the island, the barrier, it was all magic. What could undo magic? Water would do for an enchantment, washed it clean away, but this was far too large for that. The fairies knew of magic, but they would never deal with him, not after the not inconsiderable number he had ended. It was then that something caught his eye. Pan had resumed his pointless assault on the barrier, beating it until he was bleeding, but that was not the interesting part, though it was funny. No, the interesting thing was that, wherever his blood hit, the barrier would shimmer, clearing for a moment. That was the key.

“Pan stop. I know how we get through.” He stood, hook raised to his own arm as he approached. “It is blood it wants. We must suffer to pass.” He should've known that it would be something so crass. Toby was not a refined man and seemed to take pride in causing others pain.

Peter nodded, putting his dagger to his bare chest. They both slashed at the same moment, the blood beginning to run as they moved forward. They met with resistance for a moment, but as the blood began to flow harder, the barrier dissolved around them and they were able to pass through, stumbling to a halt at the mouth of the volcano.

“We did it! Can you still fly?” Pan looked over to him, already hovering on the currents of hot air coming from the volcano's stone. Hook nodded, his feet leaving the ground with little effort. He met Pan's eye and dove into the mouth of the mountain, avoiding the jets of steam and ash that popped and spewed around them. It didn't take them long to reach a small island, a bridge of rock connecting it to the rest of the mountain. Hook started, the place looked familiar. He looked across the bridge and saw a corridor, the same as he had been in before. He looked around, trying to find any sign of the horrid little creatures that had troubled Sarah so. They were all gone.

“Damn! So that's how he's done it. The bastard.” He felt a fury flare in his chest. None would accuse him of being fond of Neverland. It was full of all the things he hated and precious little of anything he could actually want or use, but to devour its soul, that was truly reprehensible. He would see that demon pay for this.

“What is it? What's wrong?” Pan followed his gaze, looking around at all the pillars and platforms around and under them. They seemed out of place with nothing on them, like there should be something here.

“Do you know what happens with children leave Neverland? How they leave?” He looked back at Pan.

“No, I just assumed they took the path back. Why? How do they leave?” He narrowed his eyes, a sinking feeling in his stomach.

“They trade. A piece of them stays here, a small bit of their childish soul is torn from them. It is why you can never stay away. You are the embodiment of that soul. The things that were here, in this place, were the regret and despair that you never used to feel. They were your other side. Now they are gone, devoured by that black creature. It is why the Island is in such danger. The balance has been destroyed. We must hurry.” He didn't wait for Pan's reaction, he knew what it would be. The boy would catch up to him all too quickly once he came to terms with what his existence really meant.

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Sarah felt a tremor under her feet, something had changed. She looked to see if Lucas had noticed, but he seemed no more confused than he had been this whole time. Perhaps it was something to do with Toby, or Hook. She felt her heart lurch at the thought of her lover, the look on his face as she turned from him. It was heart breaking. Everything in her longed to turn back, bring him with her, let him protect her. But she had to be the one to end this. She couldn't hide behind anyone else anymore.

“Lucas, something is changing, I can feel it. I have to leave you here, I can't risk losing you too. I'm sorry. If what I think is happening is true, someone will be along soon.” She helped him sit down, meeting his eyes so he could see the seriousness of what she was saying. He nodded, patting her on the shoulder.

“Go on, kick his ass, then come back and tell me all about it. I was just slowing you down anyway.” He smiled sadly, pushing her shoulder away and reclining back against the rock. It made her feel almost happy, the faith he had in her.

“I'll be back soon, promise.” She nodded and took off at a dead run down the corridor.

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“Keep up boy. We haven't a moment to spare.” Hook didn't bother to look back, he knew that Pan had fallen behind again.

“I'm trying, but these stones are hot, and I can't breathe down here. I need open air.” He groaned the same complaints that had been his constant litany since they had entered the passages. Hook was about to respond, mouth open, body mid turn, when a noise caught his attention. It was a sigh, or a groan, it was hard to tell. But it was close.

Pan stilled as well, his eyes meeting that of his former foe as Hook put a finger to his lips. Pan nodded, silently drawing his dagger from its lambskin sheath. Hook turned, stalking toward the source of the sound. It was around the next bend in the passage, where Toby had originally shown himself to Sarah. But this time it was Lucas who met his gaze.

“Oh damn.” He turned as Hook's eyes narrowed, trying in vain to crawl away. He was pinned a moment later, angry red eyes filling his vision.

“Where is she?” The voice was soft and deadly, like a viper ready to strike.

“She set me here and went off that way. She knew someone was after us and she didn't want to try and fight while trying to keep me safe. She knew it was you. She didn't say it, but she knew.” Lucas didnt bother to check his words as he spoke, merely sharing any and every insight and word that had been impressed on his mind in that instant. 

“Pan. Take this man and go back. If we do not succeed, flee this place in my ship. I trust you can sail her?” He turned, removing his coat and hat, the red velvet set that Sarah so loved, and handed them both to the boy. It was a ceremony that normally had much more pomp and circumstance, but time was of the essence. Pan spared a moment to understand the importance of the moment and took the articles of clothing with a reverence Hook did not think him capable of.

“Are you sure?” At Hook's nod, he took the coat and hat and turned, picking the wounded Lucas up with a surprising strength and headed off back down the corridor. Hook turned away from them, feeling the final door snap shut. It was done, he was free. He would see this through to the end with no regrets. He took a breath, eyes closed, feeling the red bleed into them as his heart quickened. When they opened again, Hook the gentleman was gone, replaced with the blood thirsty man that had haunted young Wendy Darling's stories so long ago. And he was ready for battle.

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Sarah knew she was close. She could feel it. Her vision had been slowly narrowing, tunneling down into a single point of clarity, guiding her. She no longer thought about her steps or chose her path, she simply followed the pull that was so strong it was a physical weight in her chest. It would lead her to him, she knew that much, and then she would kill him, and end this.

She stumbled, her vision snapping into clarity, the tunnels gone. In their place was her old apartment. It was a place she had hoped never to see again, a place that held all the pain and misery of her long relationship with Toby. Of course it would end here. She felt a smile spread across her face. If he wanted to bring her here, let him, it would make no difference. She squared her shoulders, taking the stairs two at a time to the loft, kicking in the door, pistol ready. 

He stood there, a normal man, all black leather and rugged good looks, and a gun. It barked twice, the pain flaring in Sarah's belly like fire as she fell back against the railing, her own pistol giving a resounding crack. He looked down, dropping to his knees , hands cradling the pool of blood and flesh that had been his chest. She laughed, wincing as the pain intensified. She'd got the bastard. He looked up at her, his eyes clear of the madness she'd come to know, tears beginning to fall as his body fell forward, exploding into ash, the scene dissolving around her.

“Oh very good. Did not expect the blunderbuss, that hurt ya know.” His voice was icy cold and hard. She jerked forward, meaning to stand, but the pain rocked her back again. The bullet wounds were still there.

“Guess that one was a little more real then?” She pushed herself up along the wall. She spared a moment to wonder what it was with guys and wounding her stomach before raising her head to meet Toby. She had a funny thought that this was his “final form” and actually laughed a little.

“Something amuse you? Perhaps you are already delirious from the pain? You never could handle much you know. I can take it away Sarah, all the pain and fear. I can put things right for you. Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave.” He stepped forward as he spoke, coming ever closer.

“That's the best you got? Empty promises and a Labyrinth quote? Damn man, what did I ever see in you?” She laughed again, groaning softly as the muscles screamed in protest.

“They may not be my words but they mean no less.” He was in front of her now, eyes full of soulful emotion and sincerity. “Just love me Sarah. Please.” He took her hand in his, holding it tenderly to his lips.

“Go fuck yourself.” Her words were cut off as he slapped her and gripped her throat, squeezing tightly. It was his fatal mistake. She looked up at him with a smile as she drew her knife, driving it up into his chin with a wet crunch. His body went rigid for a moment, his hand squeezing so tight Sarah thought her eyes would pop out, and then his body went slack, sliding down to the floor with a dull thud, taking her knife with it.

She let out a shout of victory, her vision suddenly swimming with unshed tears. She felt light headed and giddy, until she felt something begin to ooze past her legs. It snapped her back into reality and brought her vision firmly downward, it was the babies. Those empty little babies from the platform room. They were squirming around in the black mess that had been Toby's body, struggling to get free from the small tendrils that held them. But not all of them could escape, something was moving inside the black puddle, a shape was forming.

She began to back away, out of weapons and growing weak as another Toby formed. It was the half formed, insane version of him she had seen one her last trip down here. Tendrils were waving around him wildly, his eyes narrowed to red ovals in his face. He meant to kill her now, she knew that, and she was powerless to stop it. But maybe she could take him with her.

“Follow the leader ass hole.” She shot back down the corridor, the monster's enraged scream echoing around her as he gave chase.

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Hook heard the scream. He knew that scream. He'd heard the bark of gun shots and the resounding boom of his blunderbuss, a gift to Sarah after their battle on the ship. He felt his blood run cold. She would never fire that unless she absolutely had to. He stopped his thoughts, the line they were on did not bare consideration. Instead, he used the reverberations as a guide and took off toward the sound. He would end this thing with his own hand, or hook, whichever struck his fancy first.

It didn't take him long to reach his goal. He saw Sarah take a fork toward the platform opening, the black form of Toby racing after her, tendrils hardened into spikes, sinking into the rock behind her feet. Hook narrowed his eyes as he put all he could into running faster, catching up to the black monster quickly. He launched at the thing, landing on its back, hook rending every inch of black flesh he could reach.

The screams brought Sarah up short. She turned and saw Hook on Toby's back, flaying skin from him with every swing of his hook. She was about to call out to him when a knife fell to her feet. She grabbed it, looking up and meeting his eyes, blood red and full of murder and felt a grin cross her face. Something in her screamed that this was wrong, that this was the madness that had grabbed hold of the rest of the island, but she ignored it. Madness was what it took to defeat something like this. You had to be ruthless and vicious if you wanted to win, and she wanted to win.

She launched herself at the creature, stabbing at his center over and over again, crimson liquid staining her with every withdrawal. It was hot, too hot to be human, and this just reaffirmed her vigor. This was not a human, this was an amalgamation of all the hatred and pain she'd felt in her life. It was the culmination of all the shit she'd been through and all the dark secrets she'd repressed. It was her drug habit and all the people she'd hurt and all the people she'd let hurt her. It was a monster, undeserving of love, compassion or mercy. She dimly registered a scream, long and loud. It was her. 

The creature finally collapsed to the side, its body finally dead, its eyes glassy. It's face turned to her, lips opened to plead but as it began to speak she simply said “no” and the glassy eyes cracked, shattering into a fine red dust. The black ooze exploded apart, turning to ash.

Sarah looked up into the now brilliantly blue eyes of the man she loved and felt herself slip sideways, her legs finally giving out. Hook caught her, lifting her in his arms as he walked among the tide of infant souls, now free from their prison. He stepped out onto the first of the platforms, where they had first seen these little creatures, and turned his face up, his body taking off as quickly as he dared.

Sarah's last thought, as she felt her body relax into soothing stillness, was how the sky looked. It was blue, full of puffy white clouds that you could sit on, if you were small enough. That had always been her favorite part.

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“Sarah!” Pan ran to Hook the moment he landed, kneeling beside him as he pulled open her shirt, exposing the small wounds on her belly.

“This wasn't made by any weapon I know.” He looked up at Lucas, his eyes demanding an answer.

“Modern fire arms are a lot different. Roll her over, did the bullets go out the other side?” Lucas knelt down beside her. It wasn't the first time he'd had to do any kind of triage on either of them. He'd made it a personal hobby to research the most common causes of injury, among them, bullets. There were two large exit woulds on her back, the skin torn apart. “Okay, at least we don't have to dig them out. Now, we need to clean the wounds and close them so she doesn't bleed out. We just have to hope he didn't hit anything vital.” Lucas stood up, looking around for anything he could use to work with.

Hook barked instructions to them both about where to find the medical kits in his cabin and hovered protectively over Sarah. He would not let her die. He'd brought her back from worse than this and he was never one to let himself be outdone.

Smee burst from the cabin, medical kit in hand, hobbling on a make shift cane Sarah had once used to get around the ship. He waved a hand as Hook opened his mouth to protest and sank down to the deck, pushing the cane away and rolling up his sleeves.

“All due respect cap'n, I need ya ta move. I can't work on the lass if you're so close.” He looked up at Hook, his eyes hard and stern in a way that he'd never seen before. It shook him for some reason and he set Sarah down gently, moving back until Smee gave him the sign to stop.

The next few moments were pure hell for him. Sarah was unconscious, but her body still felt pain. He watched as Lucas held her bucking hips and writhing shoulders still as antiseptic, Muskat and gauze were poured and pressed against the still angrily bleeding flesh of her torso. It was almost more than he could stand as she began to thrash under Smee's quick and precise stitching. It was only his faith in his first mate and his first hand experience under that needle that kept him from tossing them all off the ship.

No one knew how to close a bullet hole like Smee, and he was also the only one on the ship who knew how to check a belly wound for infection. He'd saved Hook's own life as well as the lives of his crew more times than he could count. He assured them all that nothing had been knicked or punctured, he'd ascertained this by digging his finger down into her torso. It was crude, but the best way to tell, according to Smee at any rate, and after another round of sterilization and stitching, Sarah was closed and bandaged up and resting in Hook's bed.

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

The light was what woke her. It was so bright that it hurt her head, even with her eyes closed. It was like a flashlight was hovering above her face. She swatted at it and gasped, her hand clapping to her side. The pain brought back memories of her fight with Toby, the gunshots, the knife and the flight back to the ship. They'd won.

“I think she's awake, get the cap'n.” That voice, she knew that voice so well. It filled her with warmth and comfort. “Think ya can open your eyes fer me lass?” She felt a wrinkled hand on her cheek, turning her head as she tried to pry her eyes open. The sight that met her was too good to be true. She saw Smee, his face already beginning to plump up, smiling that wonderfully fatherly smile. There was light in the cabin, and the light that had woken her resolved itself into a fairy, Tink. The little fairy gave a squeal of glee and rushed toward her, hugging whatever part of her she could get to and peppering her with kisses so light they felt like dust fall.

“Tink! Stop that.” Peter ran over, grabbing the little fairy and setting her off to the side, turning to Sarah with a watery smile. “We thought, when you didn't wake up...you're okay now right?” He sounded like he was on the verge of tears and she opened her arms to him, moving slowly to avoid aggravating her wound. To his credit, Pan moved slowly, kneeling by the bed and resting his head against her chest, his shoulders shaking as he let out all the pain and worry he'd felt since this whole ordeal began. She held him close, patting his head softly and whispering comforts to him until he settled down. “I'm glad you're not dead. Bye!” He smiled and waved, nudging Tink as he left the room, taking off as soon as he cleared the door.

“Strange boy.” Smee shook his head, leaning back in to check her wounds. A voice from the decks stopped him dead and he stood, moving the chair, and his body, out of the way of the rather large body that came barreling into the room a moment later. It was Hook, and he was not happy, nor was he angry, nor was he sad. But he grinned as if he were happy, shook as if he were angry and a single tear rolled down his cheek as if he were sad. He was at her side in a moment, kissing her with such force that she couldn't have moved if she'd wanted to.

“Never again, do you understand? You will never do this to me again.” He rested his forehead against hers, his voice was quite and rough, as if he'd spent a great deal of time shouting.

“Yes sir, cap'n sir.” She closed her eyes, shedding the tears that had been swimming in her vision since she'd first seen Smee, a smile stretching her face. A deep chuckle echoed around them, the only sound in the room besides the quiet closing of the door and the worried chatter of a certain friend, still waiting out on decks.

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Sarah woke for the third time that night, her body aching still, though the wounds had finally closed over. Hook lay in a mess of sheets and hair beside her, eyes still closed in slumber. She took the sheet, it was the only thing free, and walked over to the furthest port hole. It faced East, and she loved to watch the sunrise on her restless nights. She knew what was keeping her from sleep. She had a decision to make. Stay, or go. Hook, or her life. She had a career, friends, family that she loved very much. But Hook was here, with adventure and danger and a love so deep and passionate that she sometimes feared she'd be eclipsed by it. Who did she choose? How did she choose?

She was shaken from her thoughts by a pair of arms wrapping around her middle and pulling her back against a muscled chest. One of the arms still had a scar forming along it, Hook's evidence of the battle that had nearly parted them forever.

“Trouble sleeping?” His voice was will thick with tiredness but it hid an alertness that sometimes frightened her.

“Don't I always?” She joked, or tried to. 

“Is it about, your choice?” His voice turned slightly darker, harder. She'd been pulling away from him over the past week, becoming more withdrawn, sleeping in the guest's quarters when she woke in the middle of the night. He read it as her making up her mind, despite her assertions to the contrary.

“Yup. I think I've decided. Do you want to know?” She turned her head to side, letting his lips travel down her neck, setting a spark to burning in her belly.

“That depends, will I like it?” His fingers knotted in the sheet, pulling it away from her body, letting it fall away as they began to explore her skin, paying special care to the still puckered skin where she'd been shot.

“I don't know, it depends.” She turned in his arms, looping her arms around his neck and sliding away from him, sauntering back to the bed.

“Oh? On what my dear?” He crawled up the bed toward her, pinning her to mattress with his body, his arousal evident against her thigh. She pulled her legs apart, letting his rest between them.

“On how you feel about me, deep down.” She looked up at him, still resting on her elbows, biting her lip softly. He just grinned, pulling her hips toward him, sinking into her up to the hilt with a groan.

“I love you.” He whispered, kissing her deeply as he began to move.

It was magic to her. She felt a connection to him like she'd never felt before and it only served to heighten the pleasure she was feeling. She gripped tightly onto his shoulders, moving her hips in tandem with his thrusts, eliciting all manner of groans and gasps from him. She had never simply given over to him before, trusted him completely and let him bring her to climax. It was something she now felt very stupid about. 

Hook, for his part, was showing incredible restraint. It was the first time he'd had her since before the battle. He longed to lose control and drive into her until she screamed, but her wounds were still too fresh. He settled for sinking his hook into the wooden headboard and giving her all he could. He felt a jolt through his core as he looked down at her, hair askew across the pillow, eyes closed, mouth open in a silent cry of pleasure. He groaned, his body hunching over hers as he drove in deeper. 

The answering whimpers were almost his undoing. He captured her lips to silence her, determined to make this last as long as he could, but it would seem her body had other plans. The kiss was enough for her, sending her body to quivering, her muscles tightening around him so much it almost hurt. She held onto him, her scream muffled by his lips and he lost control, pounding forward until he felt his release. 

They stayed for a moment, still and panting before Hook straightened up, looking down at her. His gaze was suddenly guarded. She had never answered him. Was this goodbye? He watched as her face spread into a lazy, sated smile and she reached up a hand to rest against his cheek.

“You never said your answer. What have you decided? Will you stay?” He held his breath, his heart beating entirely too fast for his liking.

“Well if the sex is always gonna be this good, how can I leave?” Sarah smirked, quirking an eyebrow as a smile spread across his face. He grabbed her up, resting back on his knees as he held her, feeling her arms wrap around his neck in a return embrace. She started laughing and soon, he followed suit, though what they were laughing for, neither could say. It simply felt good.

Sarah told Lucas the news the next day, giving him a message to give to her family as well as a letter of resignation to give to her publishing house. It hurt to see him go, but she was where she belonged now. Hook finally had his storyteller and Sarah finally had her pirate. 

Peter returned Lucas to his room, still in shambles, and returned to his normal routine of terrorizing the pirates still on the island and collecting up children who didn't want to grow up. He forgot their names, forgot their faces and found new ones to take their place, but he would never forget the way Sarah looked the day the Jolly Roger set sail. She stood on the very back of the ship, held down by a rope hanging onto his hand until she left the realm of Neverland forever. It still made him sad, although not for very long, because he would remember that wherever she was, she was with Him, the only Pirate to ever beat Peter Pan.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks in advance for kudos and comments! See you in the next one!


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